December 19, 2008 - Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s oldest and largest children’s and families’ literacy organization, announced Tuesday that Rachael Flatt was their January 2009 Reading Superstar.
The reigning world junior champion, U.S. silver medalist and 2010 Olympic hopeful carries a 4.0 grade point average and is an avid reader, despite her rigorous skating schedule.Reading is Fundamental and Flatt have partnered to demonstrate the important role reading can play in achieving one’s goals.
“My favorite fictional character is Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia because she is very brave, creative, curious and willing to take chances and explore the unknown,” says Flatt. “Sometimes in skating, you have to step beyond what you are comfortable with, much like Lucy does in Narnia.”
Such inspirations will continue to propel Flatt as she trains for a spot on the 2010 Olympic Team.
December 19, 2008 - The world’s top women ski jumpers can set record after record this season. But since ski jumping is the only sport in the Winter Olympics that has no event for women, their distances and style points will not get them into the 2010 Vancouver Games.
A Canadian court could, however, if it rules in favor of a lawsuit filed by a group of jumpers trying to get women’s ski jumping into the next Winter Games.
Over the past three years, the athletes have gone from elation over expectations of an Olympic debut to the disappointment of being told that it wasn’t going to happen. Now the jumpers’ Olympic hopes appear to be somewhere between those extremes heading toward an April 20 date with the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said during a visit to Vancouver last winter that women’s jumping probably has a future in the Olympics, but not yet because the sport doesn’t have enough competitors to meet Olympic standards.
December 17, 2008 - The U.S. Ski Team is brimming with talent.
With nearly every athlete on the roster making a return to competition this World Championship season, and the development of a (men’s) team for the Olympics newest winter sport - ski cross, the 2009 U.S. Freestyle Ski Team stands to have one of its most exciting years. 39 female and male athletes have been named to the team, which begins its season this weekend with competitions in France and China.
“It’s going to be an exciting winter as we continue to build toward Vancouver in 2010,” said Head Freestyle Coach Jeff Wintersteen.
Olympian Emily Cook (Belmont, MA), who won in Moscow last year, headlines the women’s roster, and the veteran is more determined and motivated than ever to push her way to success.
“She’s on a very strict and focused plan. Now she has the degree of difficulty to be competitive day in and day out,” Aerials Head Coach Matt Christensen said. “The goal is to put down good jumps. The results will come with that, but we just want to peak at competition in 2010 so that we’ll be on fire there.”
The moguls squad spent the summer training for what it hopes will be a season of success. Led by Olympic moguls silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA), and moguls national champion Emiko Torito (Denver), the women’s squad looks to march its way to the tops of podiums.
“We have a really strong group of women. In Emiko’s case, she’s really hopped in and is probably in the best shape of her life physically,” Moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles said. “She doesn’t want to rest on her laurels on what she did last year. She wants to push herself into the top three in the world and continue to be on the podium.”
Check out moguls skier Shannon Bahrke silver medal finish last year.
December 17, 2008 - The U.S. Snowboarding halfpipe roster just got a little more stacked with talent with the announcement that Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark would be re-joining the team.
Clark, who won the halfpipe gold as an 18-year-old during the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, was a member of the national team from 2000-03. She has competed as an independent the last five years.
Clark won the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix halfpipe on Saturday at Copper Mountain, Colo., and is the defending champion in the series. She says she plans to use this season to get in top form in time for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. She’s in Breckenridge for this weekend’s first event of the inaugural Winter Dew Tour series.
U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach Mike Jankowski is amped to have Clark back and thinks she will influence the halfpipe crew in a positive way.
Iranian women will participate in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. They took part in the ski on grass held in Tehran and Lebanon’s Asian junior championship both last year, snatching gold and silver medals, said the president of the Iranian Ski Federation.
Iran had two ski coaches after Iran’s revolution but 500 coaches work in the country at the present, Isa Saveh Shemshaki added.
It may be uphill for the skiers from Iran, who aren’t as well known as other international competitors. But skiing is a popular sport in Iran and there are some great resorts near Tehran where skiers can train.
Situated in the Alborz mountain range near the peak of Damavand (a giant dormant volcano), the Dizin ski resort is Iran’s highest in altitude. Coming in at almost 14,000 feet Dizin is currently the largest ski resort in the Middle East. Shemshak is the host to the nation’s hardest and the steepest slopes
Until recently, ski slopes were segregated, with women skiing on one side and men the other. It is still illegal for men and women to ride a lift together or share a gondola. And of course women must remain covered which shouldn’t be much of a problem on the slopes.
The announcement that women skiers will participate in the Olymics is good news and definitely a step in the right direction. Bring it on girls.
FYI: If you’re interested in learning more about how Muslim women are taking up sports, check out this paper on Islam and Women’s Sports.
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010.
October 3, 2008 - If you’ve got some spare change in your wallet, you might consider joining wealthy supporters of the 2010 Winter Games who are being offered an Olympic dream. Members of the Vancouver 2010 Club receive 100 prime tickets to the events of their choice, a car and driver, concierge service and even a spot in the torch relay.
Among the benefits:
* 100 premium tickets to any event, including up to eight tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies, a guaranteed four tickets to prime events such as the gold-medal finals of men’s and women’s hockey, curling, figure skating, speed skating and snowboard.
* Premium seating at every victory ceremony.
* A vehicle and driver for four for the Olympic period.
* Admission for two to the International Olympic Committee’s “prestigious Opening Ceremony” of its annual session.
* The right for one person to run in the torch relay, and to keep a torch and torch-relay uniform.
* Entrance to other hospitality functions.
* Contribution of 100 event tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Charitable Ticketing Fund.
The cost: $285,000. Not including a tax of $14,251. But hurry, because there are only 100 packages available.
March 28, 2008 - In 2002, Anmaar Habib was the first female skier to represent Pakistan in any international ski event. She now has her sights set on an even bigger goal: to represent her country at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Habib, who prefers to be called AJ, is an 18-year-old high school senior and competitive skier. She lives and trains at Sugar Bowl in Northern California but it’s approximately 8,000 miles away, in the mountains of her native country of Pakistan, where AJ intends to make her mark.
Listen to this NPR interview and hear about the challenges AJ faces. Arduous journeys to the Karakoram mountain range, Taliban control of the one civilian ski resort in Pakistan and restrictions on women’s ski clothing are just some of the hurdles in her path. Still, AJ is determined to use her downhill skills to ski into history.
Jan. 9, 2008 -It may come as a surprise that female ski-jumpers are not currently allowed to participate in the Olympics. Well, maybe not that big a surprise. Despite pressure from the Canadian government to end this discrimination, female athletes have lost the battle to gain the right to compete.
A group of ski jumpers lodged a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission over the construction of a $120 million Olympic Park in Vancouver for the 2010 winter games, arguing that it would break the law to spend public money on a building that discriminates.
Unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee remains unconvinced. The IOC claims the female side of the sport still needs development and falls short of basic standards for inclusion at the Games. Huh? The International Ski Federation’s approved women’s jumping for international competition by a 114 to 1 margin in 2006.
In a statement issued Wednesday morning, the IOC said the women’s sport will still not be allowed and does not meet the committee’s technical requirements. They will however be closely following the development of Women’s Ski Jumping with a view to its possible inclusion in future Olympic Games. Uh…thanks guys.
WHISTLER, BC, Dec. 29, 2007 — With construction of the ski jumps and Nordic trails now complete for the 2010 Winter Games, Whistler Olympic Park is ready to welcome the first Nordic combined and ski jumping competitions on January 1-5, 2008.
“To see some of the world’s best ski jumping athletes literally flying at Whistler Olympic Park will be inspiring,” said Cathy Priestner Allinger, VANOC’s Executive Vice President, Sport, Paralympic Games and Venue Management. “Ski jumpers and Nordic combined athletes from around the world - both men and women - now have another world-class facility where they can train and compete, and where women ski jumpers in particular can continue to develop their sport in pursuit of their opportunity to compete in future Olympic Winter Games.”
December 19, 2008 - Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s oldest and largest children’s and families’ literacy organization, announced Tuesday that Rachael Flatt was their January 2009 Reading Superstar.
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