February 19, 2018 (Park City, UT) – USA Nordic athletes Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, IL), Michael Glasder (Cary, IL), Will Rhoads (Park City, UT), and Casey Larson (Barrington, IL) raised the bar in the Large Hill Team event in PyeongChang on February 19, finishing 9th and recording the best-ever finish for an American team.

The weather was calm and fair for the last Ski Jumping event of the 2018 Games in South Korea. After a relatively successful Olympics, the four-man team was ready to jump into the record books.

Larson led the team off with a jump of 111.5 meters. It was a good effort for the 19-year-old in his first Olympic Games. Rhoads jumped next, with a jump of 107.5 meters. Glasder was the third man to go, jumping 113 meters. And Bickner, who has led the team throughout the Olympics, ended the round with a terrific jump of 131 meters.

Despite the great effort by Bickner and good jumping from the rest of the Americans, the team was just shy of finishing the round in the top eight and qualifying for the second and final round, missing the mark by just one position.

“Our goal was to get to the second round,” said Head Coach Bine Norcic. “We are capable of getting there, we just need all four athletes to ski to their potential.”

Although the American team was unable to move into the second round, ninth place is still the best result an American team has ever had at the Olympics in the team event. Previously, 10th was the best US result, achieved in 1988 and again in 2014.

While the Olympics may be over for the American Ski Jumpers, the season is not. The World Cup season will resume the first weekend of March for the men in Lahti, Finland. The remaining schedule includes four more team events as the US skiers continue to raise the bar.

“I’ve just heard that ninth is the best result for the team event and I’m happy for the athletes but, as a coach, I always want a little more,” added Norcic. “We have four more team events and I know that we can keep improving.”

Results
1. Norway, 1098.5 points (Tande, Stjernen, Forfang, Johansson)
2. Germany, 1075.7 points (Geiger, Leyhe, Freitag, Wellinger)
3. Poland, 1072.4 points (Kot, Hula, Kubacki, Stoch)

9. USA, 377.2 points (Larson, Rhoads, Glasder, Bickner)