SALT LAKE CITY — Paige Jones, Sam Macuga and Josie Johnson all grew up in Park City. They represented their hometown on a team of five U.S. ski jumpers at the World Cup in Sapporo, Japan this past weekend.
Photo credit: USA Nordic
“We actually, as a team, haven't gotten to go due to COVID," said Macuga. "It was canceled many years in a row, and this for everyone it was exciting to be back there, and of course, having my two teammates from Park City. I've known them forever.”
This was 16-year-old Johnson’s first World Cup ever.
“It's so much fun to go fast, and then you're in the air, and then you feel like you're, I feel like I'm floating on a bubble, and you can just feel the wind supporting you, and you're just going so far, and it's just so much fun," she said. "There's just no other thing like it.”
Practicing for four to five hours six days a week is what got the young women in shape for the World Cup, but they wouldn't be the athletes they are today if it weren't for the program that got them started when they were young girls: the Youth Sports Alliance's Get Out & Play program, the three agreed.
“The Youth Sports Alliance was really excited to see that three of the five women who were competing in Japan in the Ski Jumping World Cup this weekend started in our Get Out & Play program," said Emily Fisher, Executive Director of YSA.
The three athletes learned how to ski jump through the after-school program that lets kids in Summit and Wasatch counties try different Olympic sports at the Olympic Park.
“I just really fell in love with the sport," said Macuga. "I ended up trying other ones, but nothing really compared, so I ended up sticking with it, and now here we are about 10 or 11 years later, still doing it.”
“The first week, I got put with the ski jumping team, and I didn't want to do any other sports," said Johnson. "I just skipped all the sports, and I just stuck with ski jumping for the whole winter that we did that, didn't rotate, because I loved it so much.”
The teammates might still be jet-lagged from their journey home, but they’re already back in training for future competitions.
“On our team right now, we only have one Olympian," said Jones. "So I think there's a lot of us that are hoping for the next Olympics to be our shot.
