No. 793 Victor Method, 2012

File — Box: 74, Folder: 10

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

In this series of three interviews Victor Method describes the things he has gathered for the visual archive. He then talks about events surrounding Vilamoura in 2006, one of which was a sponsorship deal the women ski jumpers earned with Visa. In 2008 the women ski jumpers were invited to jump at the inauguration of the Canadian National Championships, where Lindsey Vonn set the record for the hill. Victor then describes purchasing a billboard supporting women’s ski jumping outside VANOC headquarters. At a rally that year Victor talked to a lawyer who told him they should put together a lawsuit. He asked women from all over the world to be plaintiffs in the discrimination lawsuit. Victor talks about the world championships in Liberec in 2009 where Lindsey Vonn became the first American to win gold at a world championship. He describes working with the press to spread the word about the women and raising funds to support the team. Victor describes a particular fundraiser they held in New York. The team ended up losing the discrimination lawsuit. They took it to the Supreme Court of Canada but the Supreme Court would not hear their case. He then wrote to Vladimir Putin and President Medvedev of Russia to ask them to let the women jump in Sochi. He talks about his close relationships with Michael Lynch, Jamie Clyde and Armins Rusis, all of whom were instrumental in raising funds for the team. Jamie was a photographer who sold her photographs of the jumpers to support them and helped organize a fundraiser in New York. Armins, a Wall Street executive, donated and helped raise money and supported the team tremendously.
Project: Outdoor Recreation oral history project.
Interviewer: Erin Halcomb

Dates

2012

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.