IOC approves women's ski jumping for 2014 Games

PARK CITY — They fought long and hard in a battle they never quite understood. But women ski jumpers can finally start dreaming of Olympic glory.

The IOC announced early Wednesday the decision to include women ski jumpers in the 2014 Sochi (Russia) Winter Games. The women of Team USA gathered at the Park City home of Deedee Corradini, Women's Ski Jumping USA president, waiting hopefully for that single sentence that would end the seven and a half year battle.

When it came, the room erupted in cheers.

"There was excitement, then an immediate — just sense of relief, and then numbness," Corradini said. "I think it will take a while to really sink in. To hear ‘yes' is phenomenal."

She said the moment was historic — for both the athletes and the Games.

"We were the last sport in the Olympic Games, a sport that started in 1924 at the first (Winter) Olympics, that didn't allow women to participate," Corradini said. "This really is history in the making. Sochi is the first totally gender equal games."

She commended the women of ski jumping around the world, who not only worked hard to excel in their sport, but also battled tirelessly for inclusion into the world's biggest athletic competition.

The women repeatedly took their case to the IOC and local organizing committees, while improving the participation numbers and skill level of the sport. Last year, ski jumpers from several countries sued VANOC for inclusion into the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The court agreed with their argument but said Canada had no right to overrule the IOC.

Those earlier defeats made this victory that much sweeter. "None of us got excited or got our hopes up," said Corradini. "We've heard ‘no' so many times. It's seven years of hearing ‘no.' To hear ‘yes' is just phenomenal."

"I am thrilled the IOC decided to add our sport," said Park City's Lindsey Vonn, who won the first Women's Ski Jump World Championship in 2009. "Personally, this means a lot to me. I started ski jumping when there were no international women's competitions. Women's ski jumping has been growing over the past 10 years, but inclusion in the Olympics is what our sport needed to take the next step. We've worked really hard as athletes fighting for our sport, so this feels like a big success."

The team's younger athletes were grateful for the fight waged by Vonn, Corradini and others.

"Even though they didn't win, they definitely helped the sport for the future," said 16-year-old Sarah Hendrickson, who attends Park City High. "It's very cool to see that it paid off."

None of the women were deterred from pursuing the sport, despite the fact that they were not allowed to nurture Olympic dreams.

"I knew it wasn't an Olympic sport, but it didn't affect how I trained," said Hendrickson. "I just kept doing it because I loved it."

The women of the sport also found a way to rid themselves of sadness and bitterness after repeatedly being turned away with no logical explanation. While officials said there weren't enough women in enough countries participating, Corradini said ski jumping had more countries and women competing than luge, bobsleigh, ski cross or skeleton when they were admitted.

"I think the court case did make a major difference," Corradini said. She believes the women's case was bolstered when the Canadian Supreme Court said they were being discriminated against.

Park City native Alissa Johnson, 23, had a particularly painful experience. She watched her brother compete in the same sport in the Olympics in 2006 and 2010. She said the 2006 experience was much more difficult.

"I was a lot younger in 2006," she said Wednesday after a press conference on the sport's inclusion. "I didn't know how to deal with my frustration or emotions. I was really extremely proud of my brother. … It was an emotional roller coaster. In 2010, we'd done everything we could to get ourselves there, and I just went as a spectator and enjoyed the experience. … My number one goal was to cheer for my brother."

Johnson's father was in charge of ski jumping during the 2002 Winter Games in Utah, and he's an FIS member. She said her parents were almost more excited about the news than she is. That may be because, like her teammates, she learned to approach the rejection with determination and pragmatism.

"At a certain point, you realize there isn't anything more you can do," she said. "You're only allowed a certain allotment of tears for one thing. People ask you if you're training for the Olympics, and you just say no. If I ever wanted to just focus on my sport, I had to let go of a lot of the political stuff."

Now the women can go about their business the same way millions of other athletes do — paying attention to technique and training and worrying about next year's World Cup circuit.

"And now we can really start thinking we can be Olympians," said Corradini. "It's momentous."

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