Park City’s Sam Macuga leads U.S. women at ski jumping Grand Prix in France

(R-L) Sam Macuga, Josie Johnson, Augie Roepke, and Liam Demong, all from Park City, in Norway. The boys are in Lillehammer traveling with a larger group of development athletes hailing from clubs around the USA. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

COURCHEVEL, France — Park City’s Sam Macuga opened her ski jumping season earning FIS points with a 27th place on Saturday and 28th on Sunday in Park City’s sister city, Courchevel, France in the summer series called the Grand Prix. She was the top USA Ski Jumping female on the green plastic hills like those at the Utah Olympic Park.

TownLift caught up with her earlier in the week at the Olympic Park in Lillehammer, Norway.

Norway’s coaching and venues partnership with the U.S. makes it streamlined to live here. “It’s great, the hills are very nice to jump on, and the coaching is really helpful,” Macuga told TownLift. Being based out of local housing and then embarking on European travel for competitions is convenient. For the group of them who live here, “it ticks off all the boxes we need for elite training.” Additionally, those of them who are in college back in the states can be accomplishing what they need online, for the most part.

Several U.S. Ski & Snowboard ski jumping athletes currently in Norway are matriculating with the University of Utah including Andrew Urlaub, Macuga herself however studies with the Ivy League’s Dartmouth. 

Urlaub, from Wisconsin, was the highest placing ski jumper in France on the USA’s men’s side in 19th on Saturday and on Sunday in the debut of the new format, where he secured a top-two spot in his group to move into the final round.

The fresh competition structure is designed to increase public interest in the sport and create a more dynamic, fast-paced competition. For the men, the field was split into ten groups of five athletes, with the top two from each group advancing, plus five “lucky losers” based on score. For the women, the format consisted of five groups of eight athletes, with the top three from each group advancing, plus five “lucky losers.” Only points earned in the final round count toward the overall standings, making advancement more critical than ever.

Additional American starters in France included Paige Jones and Josie Johnson, both of the Park City Ski & Snowboard and both living in Lillehammer. On the men’s side, competition starters included Parkites and Olympians Kevin Bickner and Casey Larson, also living in Lillehammer. Larson can be seen in the photo below training days ago in his Springer Tournee bib from Park City.

Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Olympic Games with the nordic ski jump venue serving as the Opening Ceremony, and in 2016 the town played host to the Youth Olympic Games. Johnson won a silver medal in the most recent Youth Olympic Game’s ski jumping.

Macuga and Johnson graduated high school in Park City from The Winter School before moving to Lillehammer. There’s a similar high school in Lillehammer called the NTG where American ski jumpers choose to attend, many from Alaska, one from Lake Placid, others from around the nation. It’s more integrated with coaching and serves as a boarding school. Ronnen Woods is from the USA and just graduated from there. He told TownLift, “You and your family need to be okay with you living in your own apartment at age 15, learning to speak Norwegian, and being totally committed to your chosen sport.” He continued, “The administration at the NTG guides your education and athletic journey but there’s no hand-holding so you learn to sign a lease, manage all your sports equipment, get yourself to classes and trainings on time, all while cleaning your house, communicating back home to your family in the states, and pursuing your passion in jumping. Everyone is wonderful in Norway and they make it fun.” 

Norway, Germany, and Japan occupied the podium, respectively, for the men in France on Saturday with Austria, Germany and Germany again on the podium, in that order on Sunday. The women of Slovenia, Germany, and Canada took the top three spots on Saturday and on Sunday for the women, the Japanese landed in third place, the Germans in second, and from Canada, 2022 Olympic bronze medalist Abagail Strate, who has spent time training and competing in Park City won first place.

The next stop on the FIS summer Grand Prix circuit is Poland, followed by Romania, Italy, Austria, and Germany.