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U.S. ski jumpers seek 'the zone'
By Jason Swensen
Deseret News staff writer
UTAH OLYMPIC PARK — "The zone" is one of those sports cliches inevitably used whenever a center fielder swings into a hitting streak or a small forward drains seven or eight three-pointers.
Cliche aside, the gold medals in the 2002 Winter Games ski jumping competitions — which begin Friday morning with the K90 qualification round — may indeed be claimed by the lucky athlete that finds himself in the zone.
Just study ski jumping's recent past. At the beginning of the 2000-01 World Cup season, Germany's Martin Schmitt looked like he was going to defend his WC title with ease — winning three of the first four jumping competitions. But Schmitt soon found himself trailing Poland's Adam Malysz in the WC standings. Malysz became master of the world's top jump hills, at one point claiming five consecutive wins and finishing the 2000-2001 season with 11 visits to the top of the medal podium.
"There are just times in ski jumping when everything comes together," said U.S. ski jumper Clint Jones.
Now Germany's Sven Hannawald seems to have claimed ski jumping's "zone." Hannawald recently won five straight World Cup competitions, including a historic four-event sweep of the so-called "Four Hills Tournament." America's top hope for a ski jumping medal — Alaskan Alan Alborn — has visited the zone himself. In 2001, Alborn became the first U.S. jumper to win three consecutive events in the Continental Cup, the Triple-A circuit of international ski jumping.
"It's just a confidence thing; you feel like you can do anything," Alborn said.
Alborn has had his moments during the current World Cup season, but a medal is unlikely. Still, if the "zone" gods smile on Alborn over the next several days, who knows? Alborn is not far from the sport's elite, says his coach Kari Ylianttila.
"On a good day, Alan's there," he said.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
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February 7, 2002
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