Van becomes first women's ski jump champion

Lindsey Van of the United States nailed a perfect second jump to become the first ever women's ski jumping world champion Friday, almost exactly a year after a serious knee injury nearly ended her career.

Van was fourth after the first round but soared 97.5 meters through heavy snow in the second — by far the longest of the competition — to finish with 243 points and edge first-round leader Ulrike Graessler of Germany.

"I feel like I'm a pioneer in the sport now," said the 24-year-old Van, who started jumping at 7 after a hill was built near her home in Park City, Utah. "I feel like I've been at the front of the sport for so many years. So at this point it feels like I've kind of helped push the sport along."

Women's ski jumping is making its debut at this year's Nordic skiing world championships and the sport is hoping to earn a spot on the Olympic program for Sochi 2014. It failed to win approval for inclusion at next year's Vancouver Games, despite persistent lobbying from Van and other jumpers.

Graessler led after jumping 93.5 meters on the normal hill in the first round and managed 93 in the second to finish with 239 points for silver. Anette Sagen of Norway was third with jumps of 93.5 and 94 meters for 238.5 points.

Van had jumped 89 meters in the first round, and her second effort immediately drew a large roar from the small, flag-waving American crowd in the stands — consisting mostly of friends and family.

The 24-year-old Van could not contain her excitement as she waited for her last rivals to come down, jumping up and down and sticking her tongue out for the cameras.

"There was a really crazy point when my head was going everywhere," Van said. "It was hard to think of anything. I was just watching them jump, and I was pretty sure they were going to both go farther than me. So when I saw the leaderboard with my name still at the top I was obviously really surprised and just really happy."

Van's achievement looked highly unlikely just a year ago, when she blew out her knee when landing after a training jump on Feb. 15, 2007.

"I just landed and my bones hit together, and the cartilage exploded," she said. "I didn't fall or anything. I guess it was just wear and tear over the years."

She had surgery in March, then spent every day in the gym for the next five months. She returned to jumping in October, only to reinjure her knee and end up on crutches again.

"I still don't feel 100 percent, she said. "I'm just getting close to (full recovery) now, and it's starting to feel like a real leg again."

There had been concerns this week that the debut at the worlds may have come to soon for the sport, as 14-year-old Czech jumper Lucie Mikova crashed in training and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The youngest athlete of the championships, 12-year-old Natalie Dejmkova of the Czech Republic, withdrew after she fell on her first training jump on Tuesday.

But there were no crashes during Friday's competition and six of the 31 starters managed at least one jump over 90 meters. Nine of the competitors were 15 or younger and there are still large gaps in ability, with several jumps of less than 60 meters.

Still, Friday's medalists said they had proven they deserve to be at Sochi.

"The sport needs to move forward," Sagen said. "We have to start somewhere, and we're starting here today with the world championship. And we did great! Despite the difficult conditions we did very well, all of us."

Van was a fore jumper at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. She currently owns the hill record — for men or women — at the Olympic venue in Vancouver with 105.5 meters in the normal hill. Women don't compete on the bigger hill.

"I hope it holds until the Olympics, and then they'll realize who holds it and realize who should actually be there as well," she said.

Inside Edge: Bode Miller takes break to see daughter

What has long been known about Bode Miller in the small circle of ski racing has finally become headline fodder in the European press. A report in the Austrian newspaper Oesterreich says Bode Miller has a baby girl, and it’s true.

The break he is taking from the World Cup is not just for physical recovery, but a chance to celebrate his daughter Dacey’s first birthday. This was confirmed last Sunday during the closing of the worlds in Val d’Isere. I asked a member of Miller’s camp if he was headed to California to see his daughter. The answer was yes.

Within the skiing community, it’s been neither a tightly held secret nor one open for conversation. Other members of the media have known this and waited for Miller to do the talking if and when he chose. That luxury has obviously expired.

So, off we go on another wild ride with Miller and the media. But one thing that seems evident to me is that Miller seems taken to fatherhood. He had also considered taking a break in early January to swing through San Diego, where Miller is now.

Miller said earlier this week that he will skip two World Cup races, the giant slalom and a super-combi in Sestriere, Italy, this weekend. Miller departed the Worlds without a medal for the third consecutive time at a major championships.

It appears he’ll try to recharge this week spending some time with a cherished personal possession, daughter Dacey.

Erratic Miller leaves empty-handed

Bode Miller's farewell to the world championships on Sunday perfectly summed up the American's fortnight in Val d'Isere.

"I seem to ski well but not see the finish line," the gifted but erratic 31-year-old said after a mistake halfway down the first run of the men's slalom ruined his last hopes of a medal.

Miller's make-or-break style obviously did not fit in with the steep Bellevarde piste used for the championships and he was unable to complete three of the five events he entered.

Only in the speed disciplines did he salvage some pride, finishing 12th in the super-G and eighth in the downhill.

After the opening super-G, he criticised the course, saying it favoured 'conservative' skiing.

Hard luck struck in the downhill, which he started when visibility was at its lowest because of fog.

Then came the super-combined, giant slalom and slalom, all of which he failed to finish.

"The results were disappointing but the skiing was not," he said on Sunday, at the end of his third successive major championships without a medal.

Miller's last medals date back to the Bormio worlds in 2005, when he won the super-G and downhill. His jinx at major championships since might have prompted comments earlier this week that he might not show up at next year's Vancouver Olympics.

"I'm not decided one way or another. I just think it's unlikely that I would go (to Vancouver). It could happen," Miller said in an interview to universalsports.com on Wednesday.

After his disappointing result in the downhill, Miller, who has refused here to comment on the interview, had said of the Bellevarde course: "I know I can be the fastest on this hill even if I haven't proved it yet."

Unfortunately he did not prove it at all. After bowing out of the slalom, the 2005 and 2008 overall World Cup winner spent more than half an hour sitting on the side of Bellevarde, halfway down the course, as if pondering what went wrong.