Lake Placid’s Tate Frantz poses at the Olympic Jumping Complex in Lake Placid in February 2025 after completing his second jump in the men’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — Tate Frantz has always dreamt about making it to the Olympics. And soon, the 20-year-old ski jumper from Lake Placid will officially make his dream a reality.

But if you asked him four years ago if he’d be competing in the 2026 Olympics, his answer might not have been a “yes” — or at least not in this sport.

Back in 2022, Frantz was competing in Nordic combined — a sport that combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing. He had taken part in Continental Cups and even the Olympic Team Trials in this village, which he said he was more of a “spectator” than an actual competitor in that event.

But shortly after that season, he began dealing with a persistent knee injury. It essentially forced him to focus solely on ski jumping — rather than cross-country.

Luckily for him, the switch has changed the course of his career. Frantz is now set to lead the U.S. men’s ski jumping team at the 2026 Olympics. He said it’s weird to say, but he was super grateful for that knee injury.

Lake Placid’s Tate Frantz takes flight during the qualification round of the men’s FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Lake Placid in February 2025. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

But as Frantz prepares for his first-ever Olympics, the idea that he’ll soon be an Olympian hasn’t really sunk in yet, and he doesn’t know if it fully will until he competes in Italy.

“This is something that most athletes dreamt of their whole life,” Frantz said. “But it truly has been the biggest goal of mine for not only my whole athletic career, but kind of life in general.”

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Born to fly

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Growing up in Lake Placid, Frantz started ski jumping at 9 years old through the New York Ski Educational Foundation’s after-school program. He began on the 20-meter hill, before eventually progressing up to the 40-meter, something he recalls vividly.

“It was kind of the first time you get a little bit more speed and sense of flight,” Frantz said. “I so clearly remember like taking my first jump and realizing ‘this is a totally different feeling than it was an the 20-meter, and I just got to keep coming back for that one over and over.'”

Frantz admitted that his parents, Mimi Wacholder and Ben Frantz, were probably nervous watching him jump for the first … and still probably are.

“That’s kind of natural watching a kid do something crazy, like throwing himself headfirst on the jump,” he said. “But they’re supportive and when they saw how much I loved it and wanted to keep going, it’s hard to take that away from a kid. So all they can do is kind of support you.”

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Jumping for gold

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After taking part in his first International Ski Federation (FIS) Ski Jumping World Cup in his hometown in 2023, Frantz’s career has exploded.

He’s jumped in 59 career World Cups and put up results previously deemed impossible by an American jumper. Among those include a third-place overall finish in the Summer Grand Prix in Wisla, Poland, in 2024, becoming the first U.S. men’s ski jumper to earn a podium finish at that event since 2002.

He also won three medals — two silvers and a bronze — at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships last year, and had 11 top-20 finishes on the World Cup circuit in 2024.

Frantz, who lives and trains in Norway, said his father often reminds him how lucky and how crazy it is to be competing at this level.

“I’m just super grateful for the opportunities I have and the opportunities that lie ahead of me,” he said. “I hope to be able to keep enjoying it and keep bringing results to the table.”

While Frantz hasn’t been able to completely replicate his dominant season from a year ago, he said he’s in a great place mentally, now that he’s officially qualified for the Olympics.

“I can, without a doubt, say, I haven’t slept in three months, and now I can finally get in some great rest,” he said. “It feels really good to have a little bit of weight off my shoulders in the sense of finally making the team. Hopefully, having a little bit less stress will let me kind of let loose and enjoy things even more.”

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Olympics

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With the Olympics looming, Frantz and the entire ski jumping team are aiming to do something an American ski jumper hasn’t done in more than 100 years … winning an Olympic medal.

But unlike in past Games, it’s not out of the question. Almost the entire U.S. Ski jumping roster — and staff — is young and new to the Olympics. And they’ve shown a lot of potential.

Of the six American men’s and women’s ski jumpers, five are making their Olympic debut. Frantz thinks that having nearly all “Olympic Rookies” might make it even more special for the U.S. squad.

“We all get to share an experience for the first time together,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve never been to the Olympics, but I can imagine the first time is the coolest. Everything’s new and just kind of having all that, that new experience and everything and then I want to take it in is certainly going to be incredible.”

They’ll compete on a completely new ski jump — a rarity in the sport. Although Frantz and the other men’s jumpers have competed there, that was during the summer.

“So everybody’s kind of in the same boat, relatively speaking, with experience on the hill,” he said. “It’ll just be super fun to be at a new place (because) we don’t travel to Italy very much.”

Along with the actual atmosphere of the Games, Frantz was just as excited to wear the new Team USA Olympic uniforms that are given to American athletes for the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony.

But as for the actual events, Frantz is hoping to do his best in the Normal and Large Hill competitions. And if he does well in those, then he could potentially compete in the Mixed Team or Men’s Super Team events. However, he doesn’t want to add any extra pressure and really just wants to enjoy the moment.

“I think in doing so, things will hopefully work out and it goes, how it goes,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I’m going to the Olympics, so I’m just excited.”

He said he’ll have a bunch of family members who’ll make the trip out to Italy. For him, it’ll be the first time he’s seen some of them since the FIS Ski Jumping season kicked off.

“Being able to kind of share the experience with them is super cool and obviously, having their support is awesome,” he said.

The Olympic Opening Ceremony in Milan, Italy, takes place Feb. 6. There is a six-hour forward time change from Milan to the U.S. Eastern.

Women’s Normal Hill will kick off on Feb. 7, with the men’s Normal Hill on Feb. 9. The Mixed Team event will follow that on Feb. 10, before returing back to individual jumping with the Men’s Large Hill is on Feb. 14, and the women’s event on Feb. 15. The ski jumpers will close out the Olympics with the Men’s Super Team on Feb. 16. To view the full Olympic schedule, visit tinyurl.com/2wppx4dm.