PARK CITY, Utah — U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced on Tuesday that five athletes, including Lake Placid native Tate Frantz, will represent the U.S. Ski Jumping Team at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships in Kulm Bad Mitterndorf/Tauplitz, Austria, from Jan. 25 to 28.

This year’s FIS Ski Flying World Championships team features four U.S. Ski Jumping Team men’s athletes. This will be the second Ski Flying World Championships for Decker Dean of Steamboat Springs, Colorado after competing in Planica, Slovenia, in 2020. Frantz, Andrew Urlaub of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Erik Belshaw of Steamboat Springs, Colorado have earned their first-ever Ski Flying World Championships team nominations.

Belshaw currently has the highest world ranking out of all United States ski jumping athletes, ranked 47th, scoring World Cup points once this season after finishing 24th in the HS142 event in Ruka, Finland. Urlaub and Frantz have scored World Cup points one time each this season, with Urlaub 27th in the HS98 event in Lillehammer, Norway and Frantz 30th in the HS142 event in Ruka.

These four national team athletes will be joined by ski jumping veteran Kevin Bickner of Wauconda, Illinois. Bickner represented the United States at the 2018 FIS Ski Flying World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, placing 24th overall in the HS235 World Championship. Bickner is the current national record holder for ski flying, jumping to 244.5 meters in 2017 during the HS225 World Cup in Vikersund, Norway.

“I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Ski Flying World Championships in Kulm. Our juniors, Tate and Erik, have shown some really high-level jumps the past several weeks, and last weekend they showed those jumps at the World Cup events in Wisla,” U.S. Ski and Snowboard Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Sport Director Anders Johnson said. “Additionally, Kevin Bickner has continued to work his way back into good shape after taking a long break after Beijing. Kevin is the U.S. record holder, so he certainly knows how to fly.”

“There is nothing more exhilarating than the Ski Flying World Championships,” USA Nordic CEO Adam Provost said. “I know the team is excited about the opportunity and I’m excited to watch them compete against the best in the world.”