Sochi Ski jumping team named, inaugural women’s event ahead
Women’s ski jumping will make its Olympic Winter Games debut at Sochi and Canada will be sending three jumpers to the inaugural competition.
That trio and four male competitors make up Canada’s ski jumping team for Sochi 2014.
In Vancouver on Sunday, Atsuko Tanaka, Alexandra Pretorius and Taylor Henrich were named to take part in the first-ever Olympic ski jumping event for women.
Pretorius is coming off a knee injury and has only resumed jumping in late November 2013. Earlier in that year she won a Grand Prix gold medal at Hinterzarten, Germany. Tanaka finished fourth at a World Cup event in Sapporo, Japan this year and Henrich’s most notable individual result is fifth at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
First Canadian female Olympic ski jumpers (L-R) Henrich, Pretorius, Tanaka.
On the men’s side Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes and Trevor Morrice return to the Olympics for a second time. The Canadian team is completed with first time Olympians Dusty Korek and Matthew Rowley.
Boyd-Clowes notched a top-10 World Cup finish this year in Austria, while Morrice came back from retirement to compete in his second Olympics. Korek won Youth Olympic bronze in the mixed team event alongside Henrich at Innsbruck and Rowley cracks the team after being a forerunner – jumpers that test the course prior to competition – in Vancouver.
The women have a single event in the ski jumping program, from the normal hill. Men will also compete in that category as well they’ll jump from the large hill and participate in a team competition.
