Nevada Focus: Tahoe skier makes it to Olympics

Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998 | 4:51 a.m.

Mendes, South Lake Tahoe's first-ever Olympic competitor, left for Nagano, Japan, on Thursday.

"I was up at 5:30 a.m. (Monday) and getting kind of restless. There's been so much stress. I'd been waiting three days for a phone call," said Mendes, who decided to kill some time with a trip to the post office.

"Even the postman guy asked if I'd heard anything. When I got home, my coach had called. That's when I knew it all came down to that moment. One phone call could change my life."

Mendes quickly placed a return call to Herwig Demschar, U.S. women's head coach, who was at his home in Austria.

"He wasn't congratulating me or anything. He just starting talking about stupid stuff, saying like what are you doing or how was it at the post office," Mendes said.

"After a while I said I don't want to talk about the post office. Then he said, 'You've made the Olympic team.' I started crying right there."

"It hasn't hit me yet. I can't even fathom that ... I'm going to Japan to be a member of the U.S. Ski Team in the Olympics," Mendes said in an interview before she left for Japan. "I've been looking forward to this moment ever since I started racing when I was eight years old."

Mendes has consistently placed near the top 30 in this season's super-G and downhill World Cup races. She will be competing in the Olympic super-G, downhill and combined events.

She's currently the third-ranked American in super-G with a season-best performance of 26th at Lake Louise, Canada, in December.

"She's actually already overshot her goals on the World Cup level," Demschar said. "Her main goal for sure will be the Junior Worlds after the Olympic Games. I want her to gain experience at the Olympic Games in Nagano and also to ski up to her potential. If she were to go top-20, top-18, it would be an outstanding start for her."

Mendes' first event is the super-G, scheduled for Feb. 9. She'll then ski in the downhill on Feb. 13; the combined downhill on Feb. 14; and the combined slalom Feb. 15.

A 1997 graduate of South Tahoe High School, Mendes combined school work with ski training and was a second-team all-league defender on the varsity soccer team. She's been on the U.S. team for two years.

"She was very dedicated to any sport she competed in and always stepped on the field to win," said Jim Clapp, Mendes' high school soccer coach. "You can't attribute any of her success to luck. So far it's a storybook story."

Mendes' youth ski coach, Heavenly Foundation's Noel Dufty, said the young Olympian always had the makings of something special.

"All of a sudden, we have our own Olympian. It's great for the younger kids to see and be around her. It tingles - it makes you proud," said Dufty.

"Her technical skills suit the grippy Japanese snow. It's not like the sheets of ice in Europe. She can be much more aggressive in the turns. It'll be interesting to see how she does," he added.

Mendes, Sarah Schleper and Caroline Lalive, all 18, represent the youngest American contingent to attend the Games. The U.S. coaches said experience for the Salt Lake City Games in 2002 will be the focus for Nagano.

"These young kids are very lively and fun. They can put up a show, too, if they are successful. It's very good for our sport. These are hard-working athletes and they like to promote the sport. They're just what we need on the team," Demschar said.

Mendes' father, Joe, said results have always been secondary to the excitement fostered by participation.

"I'm quite numb. When she got the call, I picked her up off the ground. She could've weighed 1,000 pounds, but she felt like a feather," he said.

"Her mother, Kellie, gets a lot of credit, too. If it wasn't for her, Jonna wouldn't be there. There's not a lot of words. I just thank God."