Wauconda native Bickner has a good day at Milan Cortina
Pumping his fist upon landing his jump in the finals, it was clear United States ski jumper Kevin Bickner was pleased with his effort Saturday at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Unable to reach the finals in the normal hill competition at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium on Feb. 9, the Wauconda native found redemption on the large hill.
Entering his third Games, Bickner, 29, had sought a distance of between 130 and 135 meters on the large hill. On his second and final attempt Saturday he soared 134 meters at 59 miles an hour in 33-degree weather in Predazzo, Italy.
Adding points based on the distances of his first (126.5 meters) and second jumps as well as judges’ style points and compensation points for wind and the height of his starting gate, Bickner finished 20th out of 30 finalists.
Bickner’s first jump ranked 22nd out of 50 initial competitors. After the final round, United States teammate Tate Frantz, 20, a native New Yorker, finished just above Bickner in 19th place.
Slovakia’s Domen Prevc, sixth on the normal hill, won Saturday’s gold medal. Japan’s Ren Nikaido took the silver and Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak the bronze, their results switched from Feb. 9.
Bickner’s position Saturday mirrored his 20th-place finish on large hill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. He also placed 18th on normal hill in Pyeongchang.
After his sole competition jump on the normal hill Feb. 9 at Predazzo, Bickner was two spots from advancing to the final field of 30.
Bickner, who lives and trains most of the year with the U.S. ski jump team in Lillehammer, Norway, was encouraged by friends, teammates and coaches to come out of retirement from ski jumping.
He had been discouraged by finishing 43rd on normal hill and 39th on large hill at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
He did finish 10th in Beijing in a large hill team event, and ninth in the team event at Pyeongchang.
Bickner and teammates Frantz and Jason Colby are scheduled for large hill training jumps Sunday in advance of the men’s super team event on Monday.