- Park City's Josie Johnson won the first U.S. Youth Olympic ski jumping medal in 2024, competed at the 2026 Olympics and is the only woman on the 2026-27 U.S. A team. The World Cup visits Lake Placid in February.
- Josie Johnson connect back to Utah Homegrown and the wider olympic sports picture.
- The story is backed by 13 sources and a visible last-verified date.
November 1, 2026
November 1, 2026
4 min / 859 words
13 official links
Josie Johnson, a ski jumper born and raised in Park City, Utah, was named the only woman on the A team of the 2026-27 Stifel U.S. Ski Jumping Team on Oct. 12, 2026. U.S. Ski & Snowboard said she moved up "after showing continued progress on the international circuit, including a top-10 World Cup finish, before suffering a knee injury at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games," and that she spent the summer rehabilitating and returning to full strength.
Her only individual World Cup top-10 came on Feb. 1, 2026, when she placed ninth in the large-hill World Cup at Willingen, Germany, FIS results show. A week later she was jumping at the Olympics.
"It's really wild," she told KPCW before the Games. "It doesn't quite feel real."
Born and raised in Park City
U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Ski Jumping and Team USA all print Johnson's hometown as Park City, and she jumps for Park City Ski & Snowboard. TownLift has reported that she was born and raised in Park City, that she attended Jeremy Ranch Elementary, Ecker Hill Middle School and Treasure Mountain Junior High, and that she graduated from the Winter Sports School. KPCW reported that she started the sport through a Youth Sports Alliance after-school program.
She was the U16 women's junior national champion in March 2021 at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, TownLift reported at the time.
She described the feeling of jumping to KPCW: "It's like the feeling of when you stick your hand out of the car window, but it's your entire body."
She now lives and trains in Lillehammer, Norway, TownLift reported in 2026. "Living here is a great mountain town vibe, it's a lot like being back home in Park City," she told TownLift.
A Youth Olympic first
At the 2024 Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, Johnson won silver on the normal hill on Jan. 20, 2024, with jumps of 100.0 and 107.0 meters for 207.2 points. USA Ski Jumping called it the first-ever medal for the United States in ski jumping at the Youth Olympic Games, and Team USA's profile calls her the first American athlete to reach the podium in ski jumping at a Youth Olympics.
A year later she won another junior medal on U.S. snow. At the 2025 Junior World Championships in Lake Placid, New York, she jumped with Sandra Sproch, Jason Colby and Tate Frantz to win silver in the mixed team event on Feb. 15, 2025. FIS called it "another historical medal" for the hosts, won on "eight good jumps."
Into the World Cup
She jumped for the U.S. women's team at the World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, in 2023, placing 10th, and at Trondheim, Norway, in 2025 she was part of the women's team that placed seventh, FIS results show. Her World Cup mixed team results include fifth at Lake Placid in February 2025.
In 2025-26 she climbed from 48th in the previous season's World Cup standings. Before Willingen she placed 15th and 16th at Villach, Austria, in early January and 16th at Sapporo, Japan, on Jan. 25, 2026, and she finished the season 29th with 140 points, by FIS standings.
Her first Olympics
At Milano Cortina 2026, jumping at Predazzo, she was 27th on the normal hill on Feb. 7, 2026, and 29th on the large hill on Feb. 15, FIS results show.
"I get to live the life that I dreamed of when I was younger," she told KPCW.
Her climb started early. Her first World Cup start came at Zao, Japan, on Jan. 15, 2023, FIS results show, and at the Junior World Championships she finished 11th on the normal hill at Planica, Slovenia, in 2024. At the U.S. championships she was third on the large hill in 2023, USA Ski Jumping reported, and second at Lake Placid in October 2024, TownLift reported, before her 2026 runner-up finish.
Since the injury she has returned to competition. She placed 17th on the large hill at the Summer Grand Prix in Klingenthal, Germany, on Oct. 24, 2026, by FIS, and was second at the U.S. national championships in Lake Placid in October, TownLift reported.
The 2026-27 season
The FIS women's World Cup opens at Lillehammer, her training base, on Nov. 20-22, 2026, and visits Lake Placid, the only U.S. stop, on Feb. 5-7, 2027. The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships follow in Falun, Sweden, from Feb. 25 to March 7, 2027, and the season ends at Planica in March.
She is one of the Utah athletes followed on the Utah 2034 Olympics hub.
Key facts:
- Athlete: Josie Johnson, ski jumping, 2026-27 Stifel U.S. Ski Jumping Team A team (the only woman)
- Hometown: Park City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard; Winter Sports School graduate; lives and trains in Lillehammer, Norway
- Youth Olympics: normal hill silver, Gangwon 2024, the first U.S. Youth Olympic ski jumping medal per USA Ski Jumping
- Junior Worlds: mixed team silver, Lake Placid 2025
- World Cup: ninth, Willingen large hill, Feb. 1, 2026; 29th in the 2025-26 standings
- Olympics: 27th normal hill and 29th large hill, Milano Cortina 2026
- Next in the U.S.: World Cup, Lake Placid, Feb. 5-7, 2027
Get the next story by email
New Utah sports stories, results and athletes to watch, sent to your inbox. Free, and you can unsubscribe any time.
Join the newsletter