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Four athletes who grew up training with the Norge Ski Club will have their chance to shine Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Lake Placid, New York.
The competition will air on NBC from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Christmas, with the winner of the men’s jumping qualifying for a trip to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China, starting Feb. 4.
Team USA should have other spots in the Olympics, but there will be another month of competition in Europe to determine the other spots.
Three Norge jumpers – Michael Glasder (Cary), Casey Larson (Barrington) and Kevin Bickner (Wauconda) – represented the U.S. in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeonchang, South Korea. Bickner finished 20th in the large hill competition.
“Our team is so good, and we’re all very competitive,” Larson said. “We’re all close together. Any day could be one of four or five of the guys’ day. I have to believe in myself for sure. The last two weeks have felt great, just hoping I can keep it rolling.”
After this weekend, the jumpers will head to Europe for more competitions. Larson hopes Team USA can get four spots in the Olympics field.
“This is only for one spot,” Bickner said. “We’re expecting to have a team bigger than that [in Beijing]. It’s still super-cool to win and not have to worry about securing a spot later on.”
The other two Norge jumpers are Patrick Gasienica (Chicago) and women’s jumper Cara Larson (Barrington, Casey’s sister). Bickner and the Larsons train in Park City, Utah with Team USA for most of the year. Gasienica does most of his training at Norge.
The women’s team did not secure any Olympics spots through previous competition, but Cara Larson said there still is plenty on the line.
“It’s great exposure for our sport,” she said. “We’re still competing for money, so that’s good. We’re a super-young team. It was kind of our first go at it, so we’re staying positive. Next Olympics is our main goal.”
Casey Larson recently took a two-week break in competition to work some small details out.
“I was trying to dial things in a little bit so we can kind of keep going throughout the competition season up until the Olympics,” Larson said. “Having competed a ton we realized the problem pretty quickly and took care of it. This’ll be my first test in a couple of weeks, which will be interesting.
“This is awesome for publicity and getting our names out there. We get a lot of TV time. I’m pretty sure the 2002 Olympics were why I got interested in ski jumping. It gets kids involved and keeps your sport alive. If you win, you get a spot.”
Bickner took a long break last year to recharge and feels it was beneficial. He took off from November until the end of the season, then returned in the summer.
“I was feeling a little burned out and needed a break to reset and find some new motivation,” Bickner said. “That break helped me do that. It’s definitely a cool opportunity and a really cool event they’re on here in Lake Placid.”
The last spots for the team will be decided in upcoming competitions or by the Team USA coaching staff. There are six members of the men’s team.
Larson feels confident he can earn one of the spots and return to the Olympics.
“I was such a young buck [last time], I still am, but going to my first Olympics that young, at 19, was pretty awesome,” Larson said. “I knew there was no pressure on my back. It was gain experience, learn how to deal with the situation because it’s way different than anything else. Just rip, rally and ride.”