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Lindsey Marie Van[1] (born November 27, 1984) is an American former ski jumper who won her first of 13 U.S. National Ski Jumping Championships in 1998[2] and competed in her first FIS event in 2002.[3] Van won a gold medal in the inaugural women's ski jumping event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec and has a total of eight Continental Cup victories in her career.
 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's ski jumping | ||
Representing the  United States | ||
| World Championships | ||
 | 2009 Liberec | Individual normal hill |
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.[4] She returned to competition after six months but injured her knee again.[4] Van has experienced four knee surgeries and a ruptured spleen.[4]
Van was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics; 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.[5] The appeal was unsuccessful.[6] Van characterized the Canadian legal system as "weak" and said the International Olympic Committee were "like the Taliban of the Olympics."[6]
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.[7][8] This mark was surpassed several times at the 2010 Olympic Games[9][10][11] and is now held by Simon Ammann with a jump of 108.0 meters.[12]
In 2011, it was announced that women's ski jumping on the normal hill would be included in the 2014 Winter Olympics.[4] 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."[4]
In July 2011, nerve tissues in one of her legs became a problem.[4]
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."[4]
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