Women’s ski jumping made its Olympic debut Tuesday at the Sochi Games. (GEPA)

A golden first for women’s ski jumping

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – Carina Vogt of Germany made history on Tuesday night at the RusSki Gorki Ski Jumping Center, becoming the first woman to win a gold medal in Olympic ski jumping. The silver medalist was Daniela Iraschko-Stolz of Austria, and the bronze went to Coline Mattel of France.

Among the 27 other competitors were jumpers who had fought long and hard to get women’s ski jumping added to the Olympic program, including American athletes Jessica Jerome and Lindsey Van. A pioneer in women’s jumping, Van ended the night in 15th place. Jerome had the top U.S. finish in 10th and world champion Sarah Hendrickson, hoping for a miracle comeback from knee surgery last summer, wound up 21st.

The athlete who had replaced Hendrickson as favorite in the event, Sara Takanashi of Japan, wound up off the podium in fourth. She had not missed the top three in her last 19 World Cup contests.

The event drew a large crowd, nearly filling the ski jumping center on a cool night that saw negligible wind in the first round, but a sometimes troubling breeze in the second. As it happened, all three Americans jumped with an unfavorable crosswind. Van said at the end of the evening that she felt all the effort she’d expended in pushing for the acceptance of women’s Olympic jumping had been well worth it. Noting that the proof was in the gold medal awarded to Vogt, she said, “Our sport will never be the same. It’s changed forever.”

Hendrickson had bib one and thus the honor of being the first woman to make an official jump in the Olympic Games. “When I was given the bib number, I didn’t really realize the significance of it,” she said, “but I was the first girl ever to jump in an Olympic event. That’s something special to grasp on to and I’m glad of that. … You know, it was the luck of the draw, but it’s an honor to open up a competition with such amazing athletes.”

At one point the favorite for the gold medal, Hendrickson said her knee has “been giving me a lot of pain since the surgery and it didn’t let up at all this week. I tried to push it aside but it was still a factor. … My goal was to make it to Sochi after I had my injury, and I guess I accomplished that. Although, after you accomplish that, as an athlete, you want more. Of course I wanted a medal. But that’s not how it turned out.”

Jerome said she hopes that what the American women have done for the Olympics and for women’s ski jumping will give girls across the country the idea that ski jumping is within their reach. “I know it’s not going to happen overnight, or even in a year, but I hope that having a strong American girls team can somehow gain popularity in the U.S., whether that’s just people watching it on television or going out and ski jumping.”

Silver medalist Iraschko-Stolz also felt the significance of the occasion. “It means so much to me,” she said. I used to dream of winning an Olympic medal, but never thought we would compete in the Olympics. It’s like a fairy tale.”

The end of an era in Olympic halfpipe

The new halfpipe king is Iouri Podladtchikov, a Swiss rider with the biggest tricks in snowboarding. (GEPA)

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia – U.S. rider Shaun White finished fourth in the men’s snowboard halfpipe Tuesday night at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, ending his eight-year reign as gold medalist in the event.

“Tonight was just one of those nights. It’s a bummer,” said White. “I had a game plan. I had a specific run I wanted to land and I didn’t get to put that down. That’s one of the most frustrating things for me. If I land my run and I’m beat then I’m okay with that, but I definitely didn’t get that chance tonight and it happens.”

The winner at Torino in 2006 and again at Vancouver in 2010, White fell on his first run in the Sochi Games, but came back with a good performance on his second. His 90.25-point effort was not, however, enough to get him a place on the podium.

“It’s all about the fans, the people that come here to watch. Being an Olympian is nothing to scoff at,” added White. “I’m definitely proud to be here representing the U.S. I’m proud to be an Olympian. I had a tough night, but I think I affected a lot of people that have never seen the sport before. But I don’t think tonight makes or breaks my career. I’ve been snowboarding for so long. I love it and it’s given me so much. I’m happy to take this for what it is and move on and continue to ride.

The gold medal went to Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov, affectionately nicknamed “I-Pod,” who received a score of 94.75. Japanese riders took the silver and bronze, as Ayumu Hirano was second with 93.50 points and Taku Hirano third with 92.25.

American Danny Davis was the next best U.S. rider behind White in 10th place and Greg Bretz finished 12th.

“It’s always tough to fall on two runs,” said Davis. “To land one and get screwed by the judges or something like that–I can handle that. But I hate not landing two runs, especially in this event with such a big crowd and the amount of media here.”

White had decided last week to forego competing in the new Olympic event of slopestyle to concentrate on defending his gold in halfpipe. The gold in slopestyle eventually went to teammate Sage Kotsenburg.

Photos from these events are available in our gallery.