I heard Wayne's voice, "You're good... Reach… now!" and I opened up, spotting
the landing area as I came out of the flip. My skis touched down lightly, more like
hopping off a curb than jumping off a building, and the scores were wonderful, 98.15
points on the jump, and suddenly
I was the one to beat.
By 11:30 that morning, I was standing at the top of the hill, awaiting my last jump,
the final green light. I side-stepped
up the hill a couple of paces for good
measure, checked and re-checked my footing just to make sure I was standing in the
right place. Once more, I rehearsed the trick in my mind.
While it's important to leap into each challenge, it's also important to be prepared
for every eventuality.
With one last deep breath, I attempted to hop-turn my way into history. Flying down
the hill, I thought to myself, lock-out on the take-off.
Moving faster than ever
before, I snapped my body into position and took to the air. The layout and tuck
part of the "Lay-Tuck-Full" went exactly according to plan. By the time I entered
the twisting third somersault (somewhere around forty feet in the air) I thought,
I've got it. I'm going to stick this trick.
On "re-entry," I heard Wayne yell, "Reach!!" and I pulled out of the twist.
From that height, I landed with such force that my legs fully compressed to where
I was almost sitting on the back of my skis, but I didn't touch the snow. It was
as good a jump as I could have done.
She executed a beautiful "Full-Double Full," the same
jump as my first… and she did it better than I had!
The scores came up, 94.85 on the jump for a total of 193.00. The board also showed
the number "1" in the bottom right-hand corner, indicating my place in the rankings.
I was the leader with three skiers remaining. The next two women made great attempts,
but my two score total was just too high.
When the Chinese, Nannan, came down the hill, she executed a beautiful "Full-Double
Full," the same jump as my first… and she did it better than I had!
When she landed, I just stared at the scoreboard, afraid to see the number "1" but
too focused to look away. After what seemed an eternity, her score flashed up and
the number "2" appeared in the corner. She earned the silver, and I won my country's
first-ever Olympic gold medal in aerial skiing.
The greatest journeys begin with a single step, taken with confidence and ambition.
If our dreams are guaranteed, all the fun goes out of the pursuit. It is the daunting
risk that provides the greatest satisfaction, and the pearl of great price that
is treasured over time. Those are the lessons I've learned on the hill, their value,
greater than gold.
Moments after landing that final jump, the defending champion from the Games in
Lillehammer, Lina Tcherjazova, came over and presented me with a bouquet of flowers,
smiling through her tears. She, better than anyone, understood exactly how I was
feeling.