3 Parkites land in top 15 at FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix in Europe

USA record-holder, Park City's Kevin Bickner, pictured here from a past season, lands on the podium in Romania's FIS Summer Ski Jumping competition. Photo: Bickner family

RASNOV, Romania — Kevin Bickner placed third on Sunday, while Paige Jones finished 10th on both Saturday and Sunday. Josie Johnson took 13th on Saturday and 11th on Sunday in the FIS Summer Grand Prix Series for Nordic ski jumping.

All three athletes represent U.S. Ski & Snowboard/USA Nordic. Jones and Johnson represent Park City Ski and Snowboard, and two-time Olympian Bickner has lived in Park City for the past decade after growing up competing for the Chicago area’s Norge Ski Club.

Bickner, the American distance record holder, and whose birthday is today, jumped 97.5 meters on the HS 97 hill. Despite jumping farther than the second-place finisher from Poland (96.5 meters) and the first-place finisher from Austria (95 meters), Bickner’s point total placed him third. Final scores are determined by factoring in wind compensation, start gate position, in-run speed, and judge’s style scores.

On the women’s side, Italians claimed Sunday’s top two podium spots. Jones jumped 89.5 meters on Saturday to finish in 10th place, then gave a near-repeated performance the following day.

Johnson, a Youth Olympic Games silver medalist and recent Park City Winter School graduate, jumped 87 meters on Sunday to place 11th.

Ski jumping continues during the summer on green plastic jumps, such as those at Utah Olympic Park. This allows athletes to train and compete in conditions similar to winter, ensuring safety and competition year-round.