Trondheim 2025: Norway and USA on their 'dream' partnership

Definite curiosity and more a degree of confusion greeted the news that the ski jumping federations from Norway and USA had signed a historic partnership, which would see them share resources leading towards the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

While many could see the benefits the agreement may bring to the Americans, the biggest question surrounded why those from the nation which created the sport would be willing to share ‘trade secrets’ with a potential emerging power within it?

Two-and-a-half years on, few within the ski jumping world are in any doubt over the significance of the relationship, or the benefits it is bringing to both nations, ahead of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Norway. 

“I think I can speak on behalf of all the Norwegian guys when I say that the collaboration is giving much energy to all of us,” says Olympic champion Johann Andre Forfang.

USA Olympian Kevin Bickner continues; “it’s been great being on the hill with one of the best teams in the world and feeling part of it too.”

Trondheim 2025, which will run from 27 February to 9 March, is an event which could be dubbed a ‘co-home’ World Championships for both the actual hosts Norway and the USA.

“With the amount of time we spend in Norway, it’ll feel like a hometown ground as well,” says Sam Macuga (USA); with team-mate Bickner adding; “since we pretty much live in Lillehammer and we do go up to Trondheim, it really will be kind of like a home event.”

The view from the USA

“Our mutual goal is to make our sport more relevant and exciting for young women and men worldwide,” said chair of the USA Nordic Sport Board Tom Bickner, after the deal was announced back in August 2022. 

Although the United States does not have a history in the sport which can match that of their highly decorated partners, they have attained major international successes. 

On the female side of the sport, Lindsey Van (USA) claimed Normal Hill gold in the women’s FIS Nordic World Ski Championships debut in 2009, in Liberec (CZE), while team-mate Sarah Hendrickson would repeat that achievement four years later in Val di Fiemme (ITA).

The current generation dream of recapturing former glories and achieving further history on the men’s side of the sport, which has been boosted by Tate Frantz (USA) attaining Grand Prix bronze last year and a recent top-10 finish for Bickner (USA).

“We just have a lot more resources and shared knowledge,” remarks Bickner.

“It's been great being on the hill with one of the best teams in the world all the time, getting input from their coaches too and tweaking technique as well as equipment.

“For most of my career, I’ve felt like (I’ve been part of) some small team that no-one really paid attention to and now seeing how one of the big teams operates, and getting to be a part of it, has been really fun.”

Team-mate Macuga, who is part of five-strong USA women’s line-up for Trondheim 2025, is equally enthusiastic about the importance of working with Norway in order to achieve progress within the sport.

“When the collaboration was announced, it felt almost like a dream, it's something that you never thought could happen, like, ‘oh my gosh, we get to work with Norway, you’re kidding,’” she tells FIS.

“I thought it would be life-changing and it has been, with incredible coaching and the whole staff just have so much knowledge from their longer standing in the sport.

Macuga continues; “you can see the transformation in our team, we’re getting results like never before and it’s so exciting to be a part of.

She also believes the Norwegian athletes are benefitting from their presence on the hill.

“For them, doing well was always kind of expected as they invented the sport,” says Macuga.

“But after our first season working with the team, I think the Norwegians were most excited about our enthusiasm and the energy we brought into the teams (with improved results).”

The view from Norway

With 74 World championship medals, 22 of which are gold, Norway is by far the most successful nation in the history of the sport, which perhaps is not surprising given the country gave birth to it, back in the early 19^th century.

The desire to retain their place at the summit of the standings remains as strong as ever, but there is an appreciation of their role as custodians of the sport.

“Our gold is to solidify Norway’s position as the most important Ski Jumping nation in the world,” said Norwegian national team-leader Clas Brede Braathen back in 2022. 

“Combining the resources of the U.S. and Norway will help fulfil our intense desire to be a leader pushing the sport of Ski Jumping to the highest possible level worldwide.”

That is a view now shared by the nation’s leading athletes, who have also felt perhaps even greater personal benefits from the partnership with the USA, than they initially anticipated.

“It's so much fun to have those guys in our team and the main thing they are contributing I would say is the team spirit, like we are such a ‘good gang of friends’,” says Forfang, who heads into his home World Championships off the back of an impressive World Cup campaign.

“I really appreciate the guys and what they contribute socially, but also a couple of them are very high-performance, young, hungry athletes now which is good for our team.

Forfang continues; “With Tate Frantz’s podium in the summer Grand Prix, we took some pride in it because we are all part of this big collaboration and feel some ownership of it like we do with our (national) team-mates.

“It’s also a lot more fun to have more people to celebrate with on the hill.”

Like Forfang, fellow host-nation ski jumper Eirin Maria Kvandal (NOR) will head into Trondheim 2025 with high medal hopes after a strong World Cup season.

The 23-year-old, who won team bronze at the 2023 World Championships, says she too has felt the benefit of the USA presence as part of their training group in recent seasons.

“It's been great,” Kvandal tells FIS. “There are so many talented and motivated people both the girls and the boys, so it’s been really good for us.

“When we travel, it's nice to have an even bigger support group around you and I think we learn from them, and they learn from us, which is really special.”

The view from FIS Ski Jumping 

The global growth of ski jumping is of course a key focus for those leading the sport within the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the USA represents a largely untapped market, when it comes to broadcast as well as regular major event hosting opportunities.

A strong American team should naturally improve prospects of developing both significantly in the years ahead and FIS Ski Jumping Race Director Sandro Pertile is pleased with the progress he has witnessed since the USA and Norway signed their historic agreement.

“It’s absolutely a great step for our sport,” said Pertile. “We strongly believe that this is a great opportunity for our discipline to evolve and reach a broader and wider interest.

“We are aiming to be more global in terms of our calendar, but also in terms of interest on the global scale and for us this is for sure a great milestone.

“From FIS perspective we are fully behind this kind of concept and approve of the recent extreme interest in the development of the USA team, working together with an experienced nation like Norway.” 

The USA are not the only nation who have an agreement in place with Norway, with Estonia’s Artti Aigro (EST) also part of the men’s training group and enjoying Grand Prix success this season off the back of the partnership.

Pertile cites this, as well as the agreement between Germany and Bulgaria, which sees Vladimir Zografski (BUL) train with the likes of Andreas Wellinger (GER) and Pius Paschke (GER), as further positive moves for the future of the sport.

“There is mutual co-operation and in this case, we see that Zografski from Bulgaria is profiting from this co-operation,” he says.

“Absolutely we hope to see other co-operation like that as we strongly believe this is a way to make our sport stronger in the future and any kind of action that can improve our sport of ski jumping is very welcome.”

Trondheim 2025 - FIS Nordic World Ski Championships (NOR) - Program:

27 February
20.30 – Start Qualification Women’s NH
28 February
14.00 – Competition Start Women’s NH
1 March
17.00 – Competition Start Women's Team NH
20.30 – Start Qualification Men’s NH
2 March
17.00 – Competition Start Men's NH

5 March
16.00 – Competition Start Mixed Team LH
6 March
16.20 – Competition Start Men's Team LH
20.30 – Start Qualification Women's LH
7 March
12.15 – Start Qualification Men's LH
16.15 – Competition Start Women's LH
8 March
15.45 – Competition Start Men's LH

*all time are in Central European Time (CET) and are subject to change