October 3, 2008 (Liberec, Czech Republic) – The U.S. Ski Jumping Team rolled in to Liberec, Czech Republic Thursday night and the athletes are already feeling the excitement in the air of a weekend of competition, and in a few months, the first World Championship event for women’s ski jumping. The Team competes in Continental Cups Friday and Saturday, but will be back in the Czech Republic on Feb. 20 for the historic World Championship event. While they’ve only been in town for a few hours, according to Abby Hughes (Park City, UT) the city is large and prepared for the trial event.

“We just arrived a few hours ago, and none of us had any idea of how big this city was since we are usually sent to small towns with smaller ski jumps,’ Hughes said. “When we got here and saw that the whole hotel was being taken over by [event] officials, athletes and trainers, I was shocked. They are incredibly prepared for our Continental Cup and the men’s Grand Prix.”

While Friday and Saturday’s jumps are Continental Cups, Jessica Jerome (Park City, UT) anticipates that getting a feel for the terrain will help her when February’s World Championships roll around. “I am very excited to test it out and get a feel for the profile and what the air is like,” Jerome said. “Mentally it’s good to get a visual of the surroundings and apply that to World Championships.”

In the meantime, the jumpers, who have never been to the city, are spending their first night in Liberec in awe of their surroundings. “Today we got to check out Prague, and it was amazing,” Hughes said. “Liberec seems similar to Prague and the old buildings are beautiful! It’s nice to see and learn about this new culture through the architecture.”

The women compete Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. “We are just really excited to be here, and we know that none of the other girls have ever been here, so tomorrow will be interesting to see everyone jump a brand new hill,” Hughes said. “I can’t wait to see how it will change in February for something even greater than this comp – the World Championships.”

This weekend’s FIS Continental Cup schedule:

Friday, Oct. 3 – Women’s HS100

Saturday, Oct. 4 – Women’s HS100, men’s HS134

Learn more about the FIS Nordic World Championships, February 18 – March 1, 2009, by clicking here.