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WOMENS SKI JUMPING USA NEWS | ||||
Casey's comments:
First time in Japan for the ladies and the organizers are very excited to have them. Totally different
style of food and sleeping on the floor in traditional Japanese style, lots of fish and rice to eat,
and a lot of things eaten that nobody knows anything about. Our USA/CAN/ITA tmixed team here is coping
very well and enjoying the change and cultural differences, other teams are not so excited about the
very different lifestyle. It is interesting to watch the different reactions. Some of the ladies
actually recognize a few of the boys that are jumping here at the same time, names like Kasai, Miyahira,
and Funaki.
Today, however, was not a picture perfect day. The forecast was for snow, and it was correct, for about
an hour or two. That is when it warmed up and started to rain. It was a light rain for most of the day,
but it was enough to concern the hill crew who were busy cutting huge drainage channels across the inrun
track minutes before the trial round. So by the comp rounds it was a little slushy and soft, like spring
skiing.
It was a pretty fair comp, only a few folks getting an extra hint of wind, which amounted to a lack of
tailwind on the knoll as opposed to actual headwind. Nothing too exciting about this competition except
the fact there were 5 more Japanese girls in the event than in any previous comp, amounting to 10 total.
Due to the slow speeds, rain, warm temps and slight tailwind the distances were not too impressive.
Taking into consideration that the guys had better air and no rain, the girls only had about 1-1.5 kms
more. (in training the speeds were the same) Technique on the take-off was the most important today.
The ladies that were keeping shin angle and still jumping on the very end of the table (instead of
snapping back) were way out in front of the crowd, as you will see by the point spread in the results.
Lindsey's win today makes her only the 3rd different winner on the COC tour this winter, but there
have been 6 winners in total this 05-06 COC season compared to only 3 in the 04-05 season.
Soggy results are as follows:
Lindsey's comments:
Japan, wow what a different culture. This place is so interesting, and such a cool experience.
The first night we stayed near Tokyo, and went out for sushi. This was real sushi, not the American
style. Still very good, and we were all forced to try some different foods. We drove to Zao, which
was a 7 hour drive northwest of Tokyo.
We have been staying at a hotel on a ski mountain. The food
is very traditional, and we are served 8 courses most of it unknown to us. No beds, just mats on the
floor. Very comfortable actually. Since we are staying on a ski mountain we all got the experience
to do some downhill skiing in a different country. The equipment was about 10 years old, which made
the experience all the more interesting. I was very surprised nobody was injured, what a successful day.
Today was the competition in Zao. Its a k90. This hill is skied at very low speeds, which makes
it very different from the jumping at home in Park City. The weather was warm, and that caused the
track to be a bit sticky. The weather made the jumping a bit harder, but we were still able to hold
the competition. There was a thick fog and from the top you couldn't see the jumper leave the inrun,
but there was no wind. In the first round, the conditions were very difficult, but we all had middle
of the road jumps.
The weather was the same in the second round, and the track felt like a suction cup.
All the American girls had better jumps, adjusting to the weather. Brenna was 15th, Alissa and Abby
tied for 10th, Jessica was third tied with the younger Austrian, Anette Sagen 2nd, and I won the
competition. I was happy to the win the competition, I had better jumps and was able to handle the
conditions, despite the staph infection on my face. It was a good day for the Americans with 4 in the
top 10 and 2 in the top 3. Japan rules; it is such an awesome experience to travel the world and jump.
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