The ski jumping team wrapped up their final international competitions of the summer season over the weekend in Stams, Austria. These competitions put a close to a summer full of highlights for American ski jumpers.
Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT) continued to impress in her second weekend back to competition and led the team with a 9th place finish on Sunday. “I’m just getting back into the rhythm of competition and it feels good,” says Hendrickson. Her competition jumps haven’t been up to par with her performance in training but she understands that’s part of the game. “I’m really looking forward to bridging that gap,” says Hendrickson.
The area of Stams, Austria is familiar to many of the athletes but none more so than Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, N.Y.). Lussi attended a sporting high school in Stams, though she hasn’t been back since her graduation, “It felt great to be back,” says Lussi. Her return garnered solid results as she jumped to 20th and 21st place over the weekend. “I am enjoying the process of finding my potential every single day,” says Lussi.
Annika Belshaw (Steamboat Springs, CO) continued her streak of finishing in the top 30, making that three competitions in a row now. When asked about her team’s success having five different women’s ski jumpers score Continental Cup points this season, Belshaw says, “It’s been a really productive summer, I’ve spent a lot of time with the team and it has been great to see everyone improve together.” While her recent results are exciting, Belshaw feels confident that her jumps will only get further, “I am happy with my results but I know that my best jumps are still to come.”
Logan Sankey (Steamboat Springs, CO) jumped into the top 30 on Saturday finishing in 29th place. This caps off a summer season where Sankey admits she didn’t see the results she set out for but understands that summer success isn’t indicative of winter success. “I’m really looking forward to the next couple months in the US getting lots of jumps, hours in the gym, as well as going to see the Mayo Clinic,” says Sankey.
Patrick Gasienica (Spring Grove, Ill) led the men’s ski jumping team with a 30th place finish on Sunday. This comes on the tail end of a summer that Gasienica is satisfied with, “Overall, I had a great summer,” he says. When evaluating his performances recently one thing sticks out to Gasienica, “The difference between when I was in the top 30 and when I wasn’t is just confidence.” Gasienica hopes to keep that confidence for when the snow falls.
Now many of the athletes will fly home and get some much need rest and recovery after a busy and competitive few months. These next two months are critically important for the athletes to maintain what they learned over the summer and refresh on the things that didn’t click. Stay tuned as we will be giving you a more in-depth look at what these athletes routines look like during these defining moments before winter.
