Olympics: Ski jumpers with Illinois ties advance in qualifying, but fall short of the final top 30 round

By MIKE DANAHEY | ELGIN COURIER-NEWS | Feb. 6, 2022

In the men’s normal hill ski jump final Sunday at the Beijing Olympics, the three men with ties to Norge Ski Club in suburban Chicago did not make the final round of 30 jumpers.

Four ski jumpers representing the United States made it through the qualifier Saturday, but in the first of two rounds Sunday, Casey Larson, 23, of Barrington, finished 39th, Kevin Bickner, 25, of Wauconda placed 43rd and Patrick Gasienica, 23, of McHenry was 49th. U.S. teammate Decker Dean, 21, of Steamboat Springs, Co., ended up in 44th.

Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan won the gold medal, with Manuel Fettner of Austria claiming silver and Dawid Kubacki of Poland taking the bronze medal.

The United States has not won a medal in this event since the first Winter Olympics in 1924. At those games, held in Chamonix, France, Anders Haugen was listed as finishing in fourth place. Fifty years later, Haugen, then 86, was awarded a bronze medal for third place after an error in scoring the 1924 event was finally uncovered.

According to the Olympics.com website, Haugen, a Norwegian immigrant to the United States, first settled with his family in Illinois. He wound up moving to Milwaukee, where he joined a ski club.