Josie Johnson lands two top-tens in Austria ski jumping FIS competition

Josie Johnson, pictured here in the Springer Tournee in the USA Ski Jumping's U.S. Ski Jumping Championships. Photo: @usskiteam // @steven_kornreich @USASkiJumping

BISCHOFSHOFEN, Austria — Park City native Josie Johnson, 18, placed seventh and eighth in ski jumping intercontinental cup competitions Friday and Saturday in Austria.

Johnson, who trains in Norway, graduated from the Winter Sports School in Park City this year.

She finished as the top American both days on the HS 142 hill in the competition series, which is one level below world cup. On Saturday, Johnson, a former Park City Ski and Snowboard athlete, jumped 125 meters. An Italian competitor won with a 129.5-meter jump, followed by Slovenia in second with 126 meters and Austria in third with 129.5 meters before wind, start and style points were calculated.

Johnson’s eighth-place finish Friday came behind Germany, which won with a 135-meter jump. Another German athlete took second with 133.5 meters, and Austria placed third with 130 meters compared to Johnson’s 123 meters, her longest flight in two rounds.

Fellow USA Ski Jumping/U.S. Ski & Snowboard athlete Kevin Bickner, also from Park City, competed on the world cup tour in Zakopane, Poland. He placed in the top 15 Sunday and helped the U.S. team finish seventh in the four-man team event. Austria won, followed by Slovenia and Norway.

“Kevin delivered with some serious distance,” USA Ski Jumping posted on Facebook.

Bickner, a two-time Olympian from Illinois, finished 14th the previous week at the Four Hills competition in Bischofshofen, placing 28th overall in the tournament.