Alissa Johnson (born May 28, 1987) is an American ski jumper, who has been ranked in the top ten in the world. She was involved in the drive to add women's ski jumping to the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, being featured in the film '' Ready to Fly''. Johnson attempted to qualify for the event when it was included in the programme at the 2014 Games but was not selected for the US team.

Career

Alissa Johnson is the daughter of Alan Johnson, who was a

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

during the 1960s. Like her father, and brother Anders Johnson, Alissa became a ski jumper. Alissa completed her first ever ski jump when she was five, and also competed in swimming until the age of 14 to concentrate only on ski jumping. Johnson had begun attending the

at the 2002 Games in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, where her father had worked for the organising committee. However, this was as a spectator, since there was no women's competition in the ski jumping. Prior to the 2010 Games in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, there was a failed legal challenge through the Canadian courts to require the Olympic committee to allow women to compete in ski jumping. This fight was featured in the

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film '' Ready to Fly''. At the time, Johnson was ranked as the tenth best female skier in the world. Around the same time, the funding for women's ski jumping was cut, with Johnson resorting to

crowd funding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...

to continue competing. When her brother competed in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, women's ski jumping was not introduced until the

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

games in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. She found watching her brother competing at the 2006 and 2010 games "bittersweet", as at the time she was ranked higher in the world than he was. After suffering from back pain for two and a half years, Johnson underwent back surgery in 2012. The injury was not affecting her skiing, but the muscle spasms and pain was causing her difficulties travelling and sleeping. It was diagnosed as a sub-scapular bursitis, which caused her

scapula The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...

to rub against her rib cage. She was one of seven women who competed in the first US Olympic trials for women's ski jumping, while being ranked ninth in the world. Jessica Jerome took the automatic qualifying spot on the team at the trials, and Johnson was not selected for the remaining spots. As of 2015, she was unsure whether she would attempt to qualify for the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

, South Korea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Alissa Living people 1987 births American female ski jumpers 21st-century American women