Lindsey Marie Van (born November 27, 1984) is an American former

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 ...

who won her first of 13 U.S. National Ski Jumping Championships in 1998 and competed in her first FIS event in 2002.FIS career
at FIS Van won a gold medal in the inaugural women's ski jumping event at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 () took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at J ...

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

and has a total of eight Continental Cup victories in her career. In 2008, Van's knee cartilage was crushed on the landing of a practice jump; she underwent knee surgery and five months of intense rehab. She returned to competition after six months but injured her knee again. Van has experienced four knee surgeries and a ruptured spleen. Van was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the organizers of the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

; she and other female ski jumpers claimed that their rights were violated because only male ski jumpers were permitted to compete in the Vancouver Olympics. The appeal was unsuccessful. Van characterized the Canadian legal system as "weak" and said the International Olympic Committee were "like the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

of the Olympics." Going into the Vancouver 2010 Games, Van held the K95 hill record of 105.5 meters at the site of the 2010 Olympic ski jumping events. This mark was surpassed several times at the 2010 Olympic Games and is now held by

Simon Ammann Simon Ammann (; born 25 June 1981) is a Swiss ski jumper. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four individual Winter Olympic gold medals in 2002 Winter Olympics, 2002 and 2010 Winter Olympics, 2010. ...

with a jump of 108.0 meters. In 2011, it was announced that women's ski jumping on the normal hill would be included in the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

. Van said, "I was kind of numb when I heard. People expected me to be ecstatic, but I'd been after this for so long, it just didn't sink in at first." In July 2011, nerve tissues in one of her legs became a problem. On the appeal of her sport, Van has said, "You are up the in the air and for a minute it's as if you can fly. It's a feeling like nothing else I've ever felt, and as soon as I land, I just want to go back up to the top and do it again."

References

External links

*
archive

Lindsey Van
at U.S. Ski & Snowboard * * *
Lindsey Van Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van, Lindsey 1984 births American female ski jumpers Living people FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping Olympic ski jumpers for the United States Ski jumpers at the 2014 Winter Olympics 21st-century American sportswomen