“I was still pretty young and I remember winning the Continental Cup for the first time in 2014,” Lussi said. “I was so certain that it was the start to a lot of great results and I loved the taste of it, it was kind of the end of being a kid.”

Despite earning a podium spot in back-to-back Continental Cup events, it was the last time Lussi earned a spot on the podium.

That was until this past Saturday.

Competing in the FIS Continental Cup in Park City, Utah, this past Saturday, Lussi jumped 84-meters in the women’s ski jumping normal hill competition which gave her the lead with 108.3 points after the first jump.

“When I was standing up there ready to take my second jump after being in the lead on the first round, I was definitely a little nervous,” Lussi said.

For Lussi, who skis for the New York Ski Educational Foundation, the Park City ski jumps hold a lot of memories.

It’s where she tore her ACL during the 2018 Olympic Team Trials, which ended not only her season, but her chances of making the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Despite the past, Lussi put her focus into her second jump. She soared a distance of 87.5-meter and earned 111.7 points for a combined two jump total of 220 points to earn second place — American Logan Sankey was the only person to beat Lussi.

“When I had another good jump and landed it, I was super, super excited and it felt really nice to put two good jumps together on a hill that’s not necessarily my favorite,” Lussi said.

It’s been a long eight years for Lussi, who said she is coming towards the end of her career.

After taking second place in 2014, the competition level of women’s ski jumping grew and so did Lussi’s challenges.

“I struggled with certain coaches and organizational things and didn’t quite get all the results I wanted to,” Lussi said. “I was fighting to compete better at the World Cup so I wasn’t jumping so much in the Continental Cup.

“Now, as a full-fledged adult, to be able to do that,” she added. “I definitely respect the amount of work that goes into a good performance. It’s a little different now than it was then.”

Recently, Lussi decided to stop competing in World Cups, which is typically a higher level of competition in comparison to the Continental Cups.

“To come down to the Continental Cup and to be able to jump internationally on home soil is really special,” Lussi said. “I haven’t had many opportunities like that so I wanted to show some good jumps in this North America tour. We have three stops — Park City, Whistler and finally Lake Placid. To do it in the first comp (competition), I was really, really happy about that and it definitely felt like a weight had lifted.”

Following her second-place finish this past Saturday, she immediately jumped right back into a competition the following morning.

In not-so-great weather conditions, Lussi earned a two-jump total of 132.6 points to take 10th place.

“It was very windy, it was snowy a lot,” Lussi said. “Utah hasn’t got snow all year and it snowed the most of the year, just exactly when we were trying to jump. That comp wasn’t great but I’m looking forward to jumping in Whistler.”

Lussi said she has never been to the Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

“I’m really excited for another chance. It’s pretty exciting. The German team actually sent some of their best World Cup athletes,” Lussi said. “Katharina Althaus, she was the silver medalist at the Olympics and has many World Cup podiums this year, so she will kind of be ruling the show here in Whistler.

“Which is cool on one hand, but I was looking for it to be more on the Continental Cup level rather than the World Cup level,” she added. “But I can’t really complain.”

Lussi is expected to compete in the women’s ski jumping event at the FIS Continental Cup in Lake Placid on March 25 and 26.