LINDSEY VAN
BIRTH DATE: November 27, 1984
BIRTHPLACE: Grosse Pointe, MI
HOMETOWN: Park City, UT
SCHOOL: University of Utah
LONGEST JUMP: 171m,
North American women’s record
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• 2014 Olympian, Sochi Russia, 15th place
• 2009 World Champion, Liberec, Czech Republic
(first-ever in the sport
)
• 2013, 9th overall, World Cup circuit
• 2012, 5th overall, World Cup circuit
• 2007, 3rd overall, Continental Cup circuit
• 2005, 2006, 2nd overall, Continental Cup circuit
• Over 50 top-3 finishes internationally
• 16-time National Champion (large & normal hills)
LINDSEY'S CAREER RESULTS >>
LINDSEY'S STORY
Since she was 9, Lindsey has dreamed of being an Olympian. Back then, she was one of the lone girls on jump skis, competing and beating the boys. She has been ski jumping for over 20 years — that’s about 20,000 jumps. Lindsey is a reluctant, yet outspoken leader in the long push to get her sport in the Olympic Winter Games. She's been called everything from a pioneer to a rabble rouser.
In 2009, Lindsey became the first World Champion in women’s ski jumping after winning the first World Championships to allow women to compete. She also holds the North American women’s record with a jump of 171 meters. Before the Olympic Games in 2010, she held the hill record for both men and women in Vancouver, which was 105.5 meters.
Lindsey has had her fair share of injuries. She endured back-to-back summer surgeries on her ankle (summer 2011) and knee (summer 2012). Keeping her body healthy was her No. 1 priority heading into the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. She finished 15th in the debut event and said it was one of the best experiences of her life.
When not on the hill or training in the gym, Lindsey is mountain biking, alpine skiing, cooking, or buying sweaters for her cat, "Kitty".
While Lindsey has had countless victories as an athlete, she says she’s most proud of her decision to become a bone marrow donor after feeling helpless when her roommate was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. In 2011, she learned she was a match for a man suffering from cancer. She was able to donate twice that year and help enrich and extend the life of a man she had never met. She routinely advocates and encourages others to join the BeTheMatch.com bone marrow donation registry.
