Lindsey Van

Who is Lindsey Van?

Lindsey Marie Van is an American ski jumper who has competed since 2002. 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.

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. She returned to competition after six months but injured her knee again. Van has experienced four knee surgeries and a ruptured spleen.

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. The appeal was unsuccessful. Van characterized the Canadian legal system as "weak" and said the International Olympic Committee were "like the Taliban of the Olympics."

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.