Steamboat Springs reaches milestone with 100th named Winter Olympian out of program
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club is proud to announce that 13 of its alumni will be headed to Beijing in February for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. With four first-time Olympians making the team, the 107-year-old sports club has reached the notable milestone of having trained 100 Winter Olympians, with 179 Winter Olympic appearances between them.
As the SSWSC’s 100th named Olympian, ski jumper Decker Dean joined the list late yesterday. Dean grew up in the club, starting in the youth jumping program at age 5. Thirteen years later, Dean was nominated to the U.S. Ski Jumping Team in 2018. Now he’ll live in fame with the long line of ski jumpers from Howelsen Hill to compete in the Olympic Winter Games.
“I’m insanely grateful and excited to be part of this Olympic team,” said Dean to USA Nordic. “A lot of work, time, and emotion has been put into this and I’m so stoked this childhood dream is actually happening! None of this would be possible without my parents, friends, and coaches sticking by my side through the good in the bad. See you all in China!”
Nine of the SSWSC’s thirteen 2022 Olympians will be competing for the USA, with four international alumni representing other countries.
Representing the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and returning for his fourth Olympic appearance, local legend Taylor Fletcher won the U.S. Olympic Trials to earn his spot, and is joined by 2018 Olympian and soldier in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, Jasper Good, on the Nordic Combined team.
In snowboarding, 2018 Olympian and 2019 World Champion Mick Dierdorff will compete in snowboardcross, while X-Games gold medalist and 2014 Olympian Taylor Gold will compete in halfpipe, after having missed the 2018 Olympics due to injury. Two SSWSC first-time Olympians, Cody Winters and Robby Burns, will head to Beijing with SSWSC coach Thedo Remmelink to make up the U.S. team in snowboard parallel giant slalom.
In freestyle, SSWSC mogul skiers Olivia Giaccio and Jaelin Kauf will headline the U.S. team. Giaccio is currently the top ranked U.S. skier on the World Cup circuit, having won the first World Cup of the season in Ruka, Finland, and later landing the first cork 10 ever by a female freestyle athlete in competition. 2018 Olympian Jaelin Kauf will also return to the Olympic stage after recovering from a back injury.
From overseas, SSWSC is pleased to see snowboardcross Olympic athletes Belle Brockhoff and Jarryd Hughes qualify to compete for Australia, while snowboard Olympian Vic Wild will once again compete in snowboard parallel giant slalom for Russia. Former SSWSC snowboarder Ester Ledecka, from the Czech Republic, will compete in her third Olympics after making history by earning gold medals in both alpine snowboarding and alpine skiing in the 2018 Games.
“The 100 Olympians who have gone through our training programs is a huge milestone for the SSWSC,” said Executive Director Sarah Floyd. “Our mission is ‘to create champions on and off the mountain by developing life skills and providing growth opportunities through participation in sports’. We seek to train kids to be well-rounded, contributing members of our community. Success is measured in many ways and the honor of representing their country in the Olympics is one of them. To have had so many kids achieve their lifelong dream of reaching the Olympics is a testament to our coaches, our community, and the life skills these athletes gain.”
Representing the US
- Decker Dean- Ski Jumping
- Taylor Fletcher-Nordic Combined
- Jasper Good-Nordic Combined
- Mick Dierdorff- Snowboardcross
- Taylor Gold- Snowboard Halfpipe
- Robby Burns-Snowboard PGS
- Cody Winters-Snowboard PGS
- Olivia Giaccio- Freestyle
- Jaelin Kauf- Freestyle
Representing other countries
- Belle Brockhoff- Australia
- Jarryd Hughes- Australia
- Vic Wild- Russia
- Ester Ledecka- Czech Republic
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