In the early morning hours Wednesday, seven elite U.S. women ski jumpers gathered in the living room at a private home in Park City, Utah, and heard their dreams finally realized. They listened live from a speakerphone as the International Olympic Committee announced from London that women's ski jumping would be accepted into the Olympic Games, to be held for the first time in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
"We had a cheer, then we quieted down," said Deedee Corradini, president of the Women's Ski Jumping USA foundation and host to the gathering. "I cried. It surprised me. There were a few other tears. Just tears of not believing it and relief and -- just, wow."
One of the jumpers said she needed a shot of tequila. A party was planned for that night -- potluck, but bring your own bottle. Time for a toast. Unlike many other sports trying for inclusion into the Games -- such as ski halfpipe, accepted along with women's jumping Wednesday -- the announcement was the culmination of a saga that has included a decade of effort, a court case, gender-equality debate, and even medical discussion. The sport has been dogged by outdated yet persistent beliefs that women's reproductive organs could be harmed if they jumped. (Similar beliefs kept the women's marathon from the Olympics until 1984.)
The jumpers' struggle for Olympic acceptance was so intriguing that at least two documentaries about women's ski jumping have been produced, neither with a satisfying conclusion. Until now.
"We've been told 'no' for so long and that we weren't good enough and that we'd never be there," said Lindsey Van, the U.S. face of the sport and the first women's world champion in 2009. "So in my mind I didn't really ever think in my lifetime I'd hear yes from this. So it's a complete surprise for me. People are excited to move forward with this sport."
Van, who has jumped since she was 7, led the charge from the athletes to have the sport included and was among those to spearhead an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee to adopt the event for the 2010 Games. Corradini said the emotional toll of not getting in "has been huge." Canada had some of its best female jumpers give up on the sport after the latest rejection before Vancouver. The United States didn't lose any of its elite jumpers, who stuck with it despite doubts and lost years.
"I'm 26 now, so I have friends that graduated from college a long time ago that have become doctors now, and have jobs," Van said. "I haven't been able to finish my undergrad because I've been doing this. It's strange. I definitely rethink what I'm doing all the time."
Van said she wouldn't commit to 2014 because she takes her career on a year-to-year basis. She will be back for next season. After that? Maybe. Asked why she didn't quit before, she said, "I just can't stop. Each time it's a little bit different. It's hard to describe, and it keeps me coming back."
No longer on the outside looking in, the decision means more than an Olympic opportunity. It's a golden embrace. By being approved as an Olympic sport, women's ski jumping now will get funded by the U.S. Olympic Committee, not only for competition but for development. Ski jumping was the only Olympic sport that didn't have a female counterpart. The women were approved just for the smaller-hill event (90-meter), despite having regularly competed on the bigger (120-meter) jump.
"We have a few more hills to climb," Corradini said.
The decision gives hope for a younger generation. Gabby Armstrong, 12, from Lake Placid, N.Y. -- two-time host of the Winter Olympics -- just completed her second winter of ski jumping with the N.Y. Ski Educational Foundation. She started on an 18-meter jump and graduated to the 48 this winter. Her reaction to her sport now being included in the Olympics?
"Oh my gosh. That's awesome!" Gabby said Wednesday. "I can go to the Olympics now, when I get good enough."
Gabby said she loves the sport because "I like going really fast and being able to fly." She figures the reason jumping was kept from the Games is that there weren't enough women jumpers, part of the IOC's argument, along with lack of depth. Gabby did note that her mom, Karen, didn't completely share in her elation about the ski jumping news Wednesday.
"She usually covers her eyes when I do it," she said. "But she's gotten better at it. She watches more now."
