The Nikki Stone you saw doing double back flips at the Olympics in February is the same young woman who majors in psychology at the College.
Stone, a junior from Westborough, Mass., was ranked third in World Cup aerial freestyle skiing and was the top American. She was one of three women representing the United States.
Stone visited the campus briefly in early February before leaving for Sweden for more World Cup competition. There are twelve stops on the World Cup tour, which ended two weeks after the Olympics.
This is Stone's third winter in the World Cup (she takes a leave during the winter term to compete). In 1992, she won her fourth World Cup event, in Japan, and finished ninth in the series, earning Rookie of the Year honors. Last year, she finished third overall, was fourth in the world championships, and won the national championship.
Stone transferred to Union from the University of Vermont, partly because the College's three-term calendar means she loses less class time than under a two-semester system. Another reason for choosing Union-she is a descendant of Eliphalet Nott, and her mother's maiden name was Nott.
She got into the sport as a teenager, when she happened to watch a television show with freestyle skiers practicing inverted aerials. Since she was growing too big for gymnastics, and since what the skiers were doing looked like fun, she decided to give the sport a try.
“It takes a lot of nerve,” she says. “Each time I go to a new site or a new aerial jump it gets my nerves pumping. It's scary, but it keeps you on your toes and it makes it more exciting because the fear factor is involved.”
After two years of ski lessons, she won the junior ballet title and finished third in the combined competition at the national championships. In 1991 she won the aerial title on the Nor Am developmental circuit, placed third in the ballet, and was second in the combined standings. From there it was on to the World Cup.
“My psychology major has helped me a lot in the sport,” she says. “It helps to be able to visualize the jumps.” The Olympic aerial team works with sports psychologists to help them visualize their jumps, she says.