Larry Stone, jumping coach for the New York Ski Education Foundation was Nina's first coach, when she began on the 18-meter jump.

Nina graduated to the 48-meter jump and is now flying off the 90-meter tower.

"She loves it," her father said. "She's very comfortable in the air."

"The first few times it's scary," Nina said of the sport she loves. "But once you have a good jump, it makes all the training worth it, and it's a really great feeling."

Nina achieved a flight more than 100 meters long, an exciting jump for a 14-year-old athlete.

PRAISED BY COACH

Her coach, Casey Colby, says Nina is one of the most promising young ski jumpers in the world.

"She is only 14 years old but has been on a full-time training program designed for older athletes for two years already," he told Sports Illustrated for Kids.

"She attends approximately eight to 10 training sessions every week for 11 months out of the year, all focused on improving her ski-jumping skills."

Winning Sports Kid of the Year would give Nina an opportunity to highlight the little-known sport of ski jumping.

It would also give her a chance to meet the Sportsman of the Year, an athlete Nina hopes might be U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

"Michael Phelps has a good chance of winning," Nina said. "He did win eight gold medals this year."

Colby said excellent sportsmanship is a key part of Nina's performance on and off the jumps.

"She can improve the mood of the group by simply laughing at something silly or making an observation from her own point of view. After each event, she will congratulate her competitors and teammates.

"Nina has the ability to be positive in her outlook and attitude even when things are not going as well as she would expect. She is also exceptionally gifted physically. She is strong, fast and explosive."