U.S. Ski Jumpers Showcase the True Meaning of the Youth Olympics on Day One of Gangwon 2024

GANGWON, South Korea — While ski jumping is a niche sport in the U.S., it is a main staple in several European countries, including Norway. That’s why when the national ski jumping teams from the U.S. and Norway decided to create a formal partnership in 2022, both sides knew it would be a unique partnership that would produce benefits in many ways. However, a sudden substitution in coaching duties during the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 may have been a surprise benefit not thought about during its creation.

When head coach Karl Denney learned of a family emergency back in the U.S., he left the main coaching duties to former Norwegian women’s ski jumper, Line Jahr, a highly-touted name in the world of ski-jumping. Jahr has the distinction of being the only female head coach on the World Cup circuit. Additionally, Uroš Balki Vrhovec, a current coach for Team Canada, assisted Jahr in Denney’s absence.

However, the sudden switch-up did not stop the four teens representing Team USA in ski jumping at Gangwon 2024 from having a memorable experience and sharing their pride with their fellow Norwegian athletes.

Josie Johnson, Estella Hassrick, Sawyer Graves and Jason Colby competed confidently, battling windy and snowy conditions that forced multiple changes in the schedule of the women’s and men’s individual normal hill event on Jan. 20. And despite the adversity, the group came out the other side with fun stories, lifelong memories and even a medal.

Johnson, the youngest member of the U.S. National Ski Jumping Team, took home the silver medal in the women’s individual event. After the first round, Johnson sat in third place. However, she leapfrogged her Norwegian competitor and friend, Ingvild Midtskogen, executing a personal-best 107-meter jump in the final round. The jump earned a total score of 108.0 points, also a personal best, and was the highest-scored jump of any skier in the final round.

When asked how it felt to stand atop the podium in her first international Games with an Olympic atmosphere in one word, she said, “enthusiastic,” with a smile on her face.

“(It feels) really good,” she laughed. “It was surprising. I was not expecting that at all.”

Johnson’s trial run, a jump that is scored but does not count towards the final standings, earned the eighth-highest score. The six-spot leap from the trial jump to the final standings was the largest margin of improvement by any competitor in the event.

“Even during official training, I was finishing in the top ten to fifteen,” she added. “So I told myself, ‘yeah! I’m really happy with top 10. But after the first round, I was in third, and was like ‘woah!’”

Perhaps her finish was even more surprising for Johnson, who usually jumps with a one-dollar bill tucked into her helmet as a good luck charm. However, the bill fell out when she had to switch to another helmet during the competition.

Nonetheless, the Park City, Utah, native’s silver medal was another milestone moment in her budding career. Last season, she earned her first-ever World Cup points with a 27th-place finish in the Individual HS97 World Cup in Rasnov, Romania.

While Johnson stood atop the podium, Hassrick watched alongside other members of the Norwegian ski jumping team and celebrated when both Midtskogen and Johnson’s names were called. For a brief moment, she held both the Norwegian flag and the American flag simultaneously, while another Norwegian athlete held a miniature American flag. It was the perfect illustration to symbolize the newfound partnership.

After the ceremonies, Hassrick explained just how fun it was to be able to compete in the Winter Youth Olympics with her teammate and best friend (Johnson).

“It’s been super amazing,” Hassrick began. “It’s been really cool to be in this atmosphere with all of these super-talented athletes. I got to meet a lot of new people and just be in a really cool place.”

A major part of a Games experience is trading pins with athletes from other countries. Hassrick said she got “really into it” while staying in the Youth Olympic Village. She noted that one of the coolest pins she traded for was one from an athlete representing Thailand, which features an elephant on the front of it.

The men’s side faced even more adversity after officials decided to cancel the trial run so that the event could be completed in its entirety before harsh weather rolled in. But that did not stop Graves and Colby from executing their gravity-defying jumps with ease. After their jumps, the duo took time to talk about their Games experience as well.

“Everyone’s very welcoming and super kind to us,” said Colby.

“There’s just a good energy overall,” Graves added.

While international events such as the Winter Youth Olympic Games focus on the experience, it also holds an important place in being able to grow sports such as ski jumping. All the U.S. teenagers recognized the importance of getting to this big of a stage.

“I think this gives younger people a goal and a place to look forward to,” said Graves. “It gives motivation that can really help people stay interested, and that can be really good when growing the sport.”

“To build a successful ski jumping team, you have to build from the ground up,” said Colby. “You have to focus on your juniors and foster them.”

“The more attention and coverage on the sport we can get, the better,” said Hassrick. “Everybody that I meet that doesn’t know about it before always thinks it’s really cool.”