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The second jump I was starting where I would normally start for triple flips. I had
a tail wind behind me and was going too fast. As soon as I left the jump I knew I
was in trouble. I outjumped the landing hill and lay at the bottom with a broken
femur. My foot was facing the wrong way with my ski still on. All I could think
was this is the end of my Olympic dreams. I knew it was too serious of an injury
to be able to come back for the Olympics. In a matter of seconds twenty years of
skiing was over.
The next day while I was in the hospital recovering from surgery, I received a
grant for travel and training from the Women's Sport Foundation. I was both laughing
and crying. I was grateful that people out there believed in me and my
dreams yet I knew I was finished.
Prior to my injury I spent seven years in living and training at the Olympic Training
Center in Lake Placid, New York. (Site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics).
There I was able to meet most of the athletes representing the United States
in winter sports. One thing we talked about was the sad fact that the local children
in Lake Placid were involved with drugs, alcohol and there was a high amount of
teen pregnancies. We felt that this was due to the fact that the kids did not have
productive activities. In their backyard were some of the best winter sports facilities
in the world but they were only for Olympic and national team athletes.
While I was in the hospital I started organizing a camp for young girls to try
winter sports and meet the athletes who do those sports. The event was called
Winter Sports for Girls n "The mission of Winter Sports for Girls was to promote
winter sports by breaking down the barriers of gender, race and geography. It is
the elite athletes of today who are passing on the torch of experience to the generations
of tomorrow."
In the first event we had 25 Olympic and national team women demonstrating
ten different sports to 100 girls from different backgrounds. The emotions I felt that
weekend were greater than anything I had ever experienced. These young girls
learned about new sports, made new friends and most importantly learned about
themselves. Afterwards I received letters from the girls thanking me for the weekend
saying "It was the best thing I have ever done." "Someday I will be an Olympic
athlete." I have never been able to explain in words how I felt until I came to
Olympia. What I felt was Olympism.
In a strange sort of way my first Olympic dream came true. My sponsor at the
time did a commercial about the camp which included the reading of the young
girls letters. It aired during the 1994 Superbowl and Olympics n I became known
for my skiing.
We realized that one camp was not enough to change lifestyles of these children.
The more we researched we found that girls who participate in sports are:
- 92 % less likely to do drugs
- 85 % less likely to get pregnant
- three times more likely to stay in school
- sport decreases the chances of getting breast cancer
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