Jumping For Joy

Tonight at Russki Gorki Ski Jumping Center, high above the Black Sea in the Caucasus Mountains, 30 women jumped for joy and into the Olympic history books.

Following years of failed attempts to gain five-ringed status, women's ski jump at last debuted at Sochi. The evening included many surprises.

On my first trek to the Mountain Cluster of venues, the train ride from Sochi was quiet but a bit longer than anticipated (90 minutes).

It was surprising to discover my seat-mates, a Sochi-born grandmother-mother duo heading to meet grandchildren at the venue, have family in Dallas, and we've both eaten steaks in the same Fort Worth restaurant.

Until arriving, I had no idea Russki Gorki's train station connected to a towering gondola lift. The ride up was smooth though not for the faint of heart.

Making new friends or crossing paths with Games-time colleagues was another enjoyable surprise. Even the venue dining (I ordered a crepe with ham and cheese sold as a "pancake with meat") was tasty.

Though Sochi is my fourth Winter Games, this was my first experience at ski jump unless you count watching reruns of Roger Moore's chase scene in "For Your Eyes Only." Tonight's event ticket was the first Sochi event for which I purchased access, based on Team USA's outstanding record in the sport.

There were some fellow-Americans on site to cheer on Sarah Hendrickson, Lindsey Van and Jessica Jerome, and after meeting all three of these brave young women during the Team USA Media Summit last October, cheering their daring feats -- launching themselves dozens of feet off the side of a mountain at great speed -- felt a bit more personal.

It surprised me neither Van Halen nor Kriss-Kross music played to warm up the crowd who danced to other tunes, as much for fun as to keep warm (we were, after all, in the Russian Rockies).

Though disappointed that Team USA's trio did not make the medal stand this time, when the top three jumpers' results emerged, I instantaneously thought "next time" and it won't surprise me to find Hendrickson, Jerome and Van in competition now through 2018 and beyond.

As the winners completed their final jumps, I spotted Hendrickson, already partially changed out of her jumping gear, in the "family access" area embracing her boyfriend and wiping away tears of acceptance that this was just not her night. After months of recovery from injury, odds were not in her favor.

The surprise gold medalist and her reaction to her final score brought the second-to-last surprise du jour.

When Germany's victor slid into the waiting area for the judges marks, and they flashed her winning result, the jumper fell to her knees crying with joy and disbelief. It took three teammates to help her stand again for the cheering crowd.

I had not seen such candid gold medal emotion since some of the slow-motion reactions captured in Bud Greenspan's series "16 Days of Glory."
Bravo to the winner and all of the medalists and athletes!

Moments later, as Hendrickson made her way down media row for the inevitable questions about "what happened?," it was good to see her smiling again with misty but not tear-filled eyes, perhaps a sign she is already thinking of the possibilities for victory in Korea in four years.

Here's hoping she and all of tonight's competitors may again be jumping for joy and history in 2018.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

To Russia, With Glove(s)

With client projects and holiday deadlines galore, November and December were a wash for free time to blog. Crud!

Lots of big Olympic news headlines of late, notably the selection of initial Team USA competitors and some final preparations for Sochi 2014.

Of course, troubling headlines are also on the brain given recent events in Central Russia.

During Christmas break, time at last arrived to finalize travel plans for the Winter Olympics.

"Are you going to Sochi?" is finally answered: YES!

For those who remain interested, it's not too late to book passage to Russia. Accommodations are available on several cruise ships set to dock at Sochi Port and Adler (with thanks to Tom Burke for the pointers on reservations). Also found an actual hotel available via Hotels.com, though I will be biting my nails until checking-in on 3 Feb that the hotel is there and open for business.

The cruise ship agency includes with their fee the required host documents needed for inclusion in the Russian tourist visa application process (more on that in a few paragraphs).

Flights are not cheap. Fortunately, after banking tens of thousands of SkyMiles, I'll get half-way to Sochi on Delta Air Lines' dime. The second half of the journey will be via Aeroflot from Germany, one of three nations with direct flights to Sochi available for the Games (it pleased me to avoid long layovers and out-of-the-way connecting flights via Moscow). Yahoo! Travel was helpful to locate these direct flight options.

And individual Sochi Olympic tickets remain available via CoSport -- it will be fun to visit Krasnaya Polyana for ski jump (the one ticket purchased so far). Locating a single Opening Ceremony ticket is on my wish list, but the Sochi ticketing process (which includes a new layer of security via the Spectator Pass process -- Meh) will prevent last minute wheeling and dealing like in Beijing.

Now, about that tourist visa for Russia Federation. Whew! I've put in a dozen hours and still the process is a work in progress. There are plenty of (nearly too many) checklist items to keep in mind, and that's just to get the paperwork in an envelope to the embassy (in my case, to a company that helps process the applications). I think only the visa application for China was more detailed, but it will be worth the time investment when arriving at the host city.

With just over 30 days to go, the time is now to get things booked without delay. Here's hoping others who are finalizing their plans will comment and share pointers.

During the booking process, I reflected many times that just 25 years ago a visit to Russia was likened to flying to the moon. It will be great fun to learn the culture in person, and I do wish to visit St. Petersburg, Moscow and other Russia Federation destinations in the future. Sochi will be a good place to start the Russia travel experience.

See you there!

Image via RussiaMap.org

Coming Soon: High Flying Adored

If you didn't yet hear that women's ski jump competition gets its Olympic debut in Sochi, you will.

Count on it.

The P.R. machine for Women's Ski Jumping USA is hitting its stride, and the Salt Lake Tribune's July 6 headline "Women's ski jump team prepping for Olympic media onslaught" was and remains apt.

At the recent Team USA Olympic Media Summit in Park City, Utah, where the women's team lives and trains, dozens of sports and entertainment reporters -- and even a few Olympic bloggers -- flocked to meet the Sochi Olympic hopefuls who are medal stand favorites going into the Games. At times, journalists huddled in rows three or four deep to pose questions, with photographers and TV cameras encircling each young woman.

All the attention is well-deserved. At the media summit, Sarah Hendrickson, Jessica Jerome and Lindsey Van explained their version of events leading to women's ski jump gaining Olympic competition status. It took, after all, several years, legal battles, IOC lobbying and an abundance of perseverance to create the five-ringed opportunity for Team USA and international competitors to jump in Russia during 2014.

To my bewildered eyes, the English language version of the Sochi.ru website still does not (at less than 100 days to the Games) include Women's Ski Jump in the official description of the 2014 ski jump competition.

However, the schedule section does note February 11 as the big day for women's jumping for joy (and gold).

I aim to be among the 7,500+ spectators in the RusSki Gorki venue. From a peek at the Sochi.ru interactive map (screen grab shown), the viewing stands and the jumps are nestled among the tracks for bobsled, luge and skeleton competition, much like the set-up in Park City for 2002. Globally, women's ski jump athlete qualification -- which involves number crunching of FIS World

Cup and Grand Prix results -- continues through January 19, according to the Team USA Media Guide. Here in the USA, the athletes are selected through rankings and results of competitions held Nov. 15 to Jan. 19, with one spot TBD on Dec. 29 at the Olympic Trials.

By my count via the FIS ski jump athlete pages, there are 22 nations who may field women's ski jump entrants from three continents: North America (Canada, USA), Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Poland) and Asia (China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea and Russia).

May the best woman ski faster, lunge higher and land stronger in the Sochi ski jump competition.

Images via Sochi.ru, WSJ-USA and Newscom

Jumping For Joy

Delighted to read in The New York Times and USA Today that women's ski jumping will debut as an Olympic sport at Sochi 2014. Ski jump is one athletic feat that always intrigued me, but never enough to drop fund for an Olympic ski jump ticket. I plan to check it out when we get to Russia in three years. Photo via The Ski Channel website