The US has won just one medal in ski jumping, a bronze 90 years ago in the first ever ski jumping event. The men’s team hasn’t been close to winning medals lately but 2014 will see the debut of a new ski jumping event. A women’s ski jumping event. And the reigning world champion in that event is an American. 2014 might once again see the US win a ski jumping medal, and it might be when the event is being held for the first time, just like it was 90 years ago.
Ski Jumping’s Olympic History
Ski jumping is one of the original Winter Olympic sports having made its debut in 1924. There was only a single event back then, the current men’s individual large hill. The program wasn’t expanded until 52 years later in 1976 when they added a men’s individual normal hill. The two hills remain a staple of the Olympic program to this day. The program changed again in 1998 with the addition of a men’s team event using the large hill. Women have not been included in the Olympic ski jumping program until this year when an individual normal hill event will be held.
While Finland has the most gold medals in ski jumping with ten their 22 total medals is third to Austria’s 23 and Norway’s 29. No other country than these three have more than nine medals. The US has won only a single bronze medal in ski jumping.
Photo Credit: Marcin Chady via Compfight cc
How the Ski Jumping Competitions Work
If you read the previous section you’ll have noticed the distinction between the two sizes of hills in the ski jumping competition. The normal hill is listed as a hill size of 105 while the large hill has a hill size of 140. There really isn’t any need to know any more about these hills than that one is larger than the other, but if you care more you can explore the wikipedia page on hill size. Ski jumping scores are a combination of the distance jumped and a judges score based on the performance of the jump/
In the men’s individual events there will be a qualifying round of jumping to help narrow the field down to the top 50 competitors. These events then move to where the women’s event begins, a first round of jumping in the final. The top 30 competitors after the first round will have a second jump. The scores from the two jumps are combined to get the final scores for the athletes.
In the team event all teams are made up of four athletes. All the teams compete on the first set of jumps but only the top eight move onto the second jump. The winning team is the one with the most total points from both jumps of all four athletes.
Photo Credit: A.Nilssen Photography via Compfight cc
US Team
The team is made up of four men and three women. All four of the men will compete in all three of the men’s events. Three of the athletes competed in Vancouver while one of them is in his 3rd Olympics after being part of the team in Turin.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
US Ski Jumping
Men:
Nick Alexander*
Nick Fairall
Peter Frenette*
Anders Johnson**
Women:
Sarah Hendrickson
Jessica Jerome
Lindsey Van
* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin
A Sochi 2014 Ski Jumping list on twitter including all of these athletes
US Team’s Olympic History
Nick Alexander, Peter Frenette and Anders Johnson all competed for the US in Vancouver. On the normal hill all three moved on from the qualifying round but failed to reach the top 30 on the first jump of the final so none made a second jump. Alexander and Frenette tied for 41st while Johnson finished 49th.
In the large hill event Johnson failed to qualify for the final when he came in 42nd in the qualifying round and only the top 40 moved on. Alexander and Frenette did advance to the final but missed out on the top 30 on the first jump. Frenette finished 32nd and Alexander finished 40th.
They came together in the team event with Taylor Fletcher and were in 11th after the first jump so they didn’t get to take a second jump. Anders Johnson was part of the team event in Turin as well. That team finished 14th after the first jump. Johnson didn’t take part in any of the individual events in Turin.
Schedule
All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded
Saturday, February 8th
11:30 AM – Men’s Normal Hill Individual Qualification Round
Sunday, February 9th
12:30 PM – Men’s Normal Hill Individual 1st Round
*1:30 PM – Men’s Normal Hill Individual Final Round
Tuesday, February 11th
12:30 PM – Ladies’ Normal Hill Individual 1st Round
*1:20 PM – Ladies’ Normal Hill Individual Final Round
Friday, February 14th
12:30 PM – Men’s Large Hill Individual Qualification Round
Saturday, February 15th
12:30 PM – Men’s Large Hill Individual 1st Round
*1:30 PM – Men’s Large Hill Individual Final Round
Monday, February 17th
12:15 PM – Men’s Team 1st Round
*1:15 PM – Men’s Team Final Round
US Team’s Recent World Championship History
Ski jumping is part of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 were held in Val di Fiemme, Italy in late February and early March 2013.
The men’s normal hill event saw Anders Johnson advance from the qualifying round while Peter Frenette missed out by one spot. In the final Johnson finished 37th after the first jump to end his competition.
In the men’s large hill event Johnson advanced from qualifying in 39th place while Frenette advanced in 40th place, both just sneaking into the field. In the final Johnson was 39th after the first jump while Frenette was 50th of the 50 jumpers, eliminating both.
The great news for the US came on the women’s side. All three US Olympians competed and all three did well. Lindsey Van came up third of the Olympians and still finished in 16th place and had the eighth best jump on the second jump. Jessica Jerome came in sixth on the first jump and fourth on the second jump and finished sixth overall. The star though was Sarah Hendrickson who had the best first jump and second best on the next jump. Hendrickson finished first overall to take home the world championship.
Photo Credit: A.Nilssen Photography via Compfight cc
US Olympic History
The men’s individual large hill, the original Olympic ski jumping event, is where the US has won its only medal. That medal was a bronze won by Anders Haugen in 1924. It’s been a long 90 years since then. The US did not have an athlete advance to the second jump of the final in either 2010 or 2006. In 2010 the best finish was by Peter Frenette in 32nd while in 2006 the best finish was by Alan Alborn in 43rd.
The men’s normal hill has also been a struggle for the US lately. No athletes advanced to the second jump of the final in the last two Olympics. The top Americans in 2010 were Frenette and Nick Alexander who tied for 41st. In 2010 the top American was Alborn who finished 40th.
The men’s team event has seen US finishes of 11th and 14th in the last two Olympics with the US not reaching the second jump in either event.
Of course there is no history on the women’s side so far, but hopefully the US will be making a mark in the first event.
