Suburban ski jumper Kevin Bickner was named to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Olympic team Thursday morning.
The Wauconda, Illinois, native will represent Team USA for the third time at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which begin next month in Italy. Bickner qualified for the team by performing well on the world cup circuit, earning enough points to be one of three Americans who will jump in Predazzo, Italy.
“It’s such a unique experience,” said Bickner in an interview in December. “[Ski jumping] is so much fun. It’s a sport unlike any other.”
Bickner previously competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing China. He briefly retired following the 2022 games, citing burnout and poor performance.
In 2018, Bickner finished 18th in the normal hill competition and 20th in the large hill competition. In 2022, he finished 39th and 43rd respectively.
“[2022] was a year I was struggling,” said Bickner. “Pretty consistently I was struggling a lot that year and was basically trying to get by.”
He returned to the sport after Team USA formed a partnership with the Norwegians to help improve American performance. Team USA has not won a medal in ski jumping since 1924.
Norway, which invented the sport over 200 years ago and has traditionally dominated international competition, saw the partnership as a way to grow its popularity. One out of every four Olympic medals awarded in men’s ski jumping has gone to a Norwegian.
Bickner credits the program for reinvigorating his love for the sport and improving his jumps.
“As hard as it was in the beginning to come back, I was then able to…have by far the best season of my career,” said Bickner.
The 29-year-old grew up jumping at Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove, Illinois. The club has minted several Olympians, including Michael Glasder, Casey Larson and Patrick Gasienica.
Bickner was close friends with Gasienica, who was killed in a motorcycle crash in McHenry, Illinois, in 2023.
“He is always in the back of my mind,” Bickner said.
Predazzo, which is about 180 miles northwest of Milan, will host ski jumping from Feb. 5 through Feb. 22.
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