Meet UND’s Olympian(s)
As she prepares for the 2026 Winter Olympics, U.S. Ski Team member Paige Jones praises the school where she’s pursuing her online degree: UND
Editor’s note: Olympic athlete and UND engineering student Paige Jones is slated to compete in ski jumping’s normal hill competition on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 11:45 a.m. CST. Additionally, a list of UND alumni attending and competing at the 2026 games can be found below.
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Among the approximately 3,000 athletes who’ll take part in Friday’s opening ceremony for the XXV Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, is one with a very current North Dakota connection.
Specifically, she’s a student at UND.
Paige Jones, a distance student majoring in Biomedical Engineering, will compete for Team USA in the sport of ski jumping – making her lifelong dream a reality.
“It feels a bit unreal — I don’t think it will feel real until I’m in Italy,” she said to UND Today, in an interview before her arrival at the games. “I’ve spent the better part of the last decade with this one goal in mind, and for it to now become reality it so exciting. I’m so proud of the past versions of myself for getting me to where I am today, and I hope to make the most of this opportunity.”
The road to Milano-Cortina
A native of Park City, Utah – a city of about 8,000 nestled in the Wasatch Mountains — Jones is no stranger to the games. Her hometown played host to alpine skiing, snowboarding, bobsled, luge, skeleton and ski jumping events during the 2002 Winter Olympics – hosted in nearby Salt Lake City.
Jones was introduced to the sport through a school program at the age of 9 at the Utah Olympic Park, the host of the ski jumping competition at the 2002 games. The Park is expected to reprise this role when the region hosts the 2034 Winter Olympics.
After a successful junior career, Jones first competed internationally as a 16-year-old in 2018. Two years later, she made her first start on the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) World Cup circuit as a member of the U.S. Ski Team.
Jones missed out on qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to an ankle injury. That made this qualification campaign a redemption of sorts, aided by the added experience she now has under her belt.
“If I had gone in 2022, I would have just been going for the experience,” she said. “Whereas with my level right now, I’m actually going to the Olympics to compete. I want to be fighting for a top 15 or 20.”
A balancing act
Balancing a rigorous competition and training schedule with equally rigorous academics can be a challenge, Jones said – especially as she added studying for and taking the Dental School Admission Test to her load this past summer. However, Jones added that academics provide a welcome break from sport.
“I always think of school as balance to my life as an athlete,” she said. “It gives me something to think about when I’m not on the hill. I don’t want to be ruminating about ski jumping all the time – it’s so easy to get in your head, especially when the jump only lasts about five seconds.”
Jones also appreciates regular interaction with her Biomedical Engineering cohort.
“All of the online students are synchronous, so I can attend class via Zoom, participate and ask questions,” she said. “Also, for our innovation based learning projects, we are required to meet as a team for an hour once a week. Last semester I had two projects, so that’s two times a week where I’m meeting with a group and working things out.”
Jones has praised UND’s welcoming and accommodating academic environment — essential for her demanding travel and competition schedule, which takes her across Europe and East Asia.
“I explored a lot of other programs, but ultimately landed on UND for their online biomedical engineering program,” she said. “When I transferred, I met with all the biomedical engineering professors. They were excited to have me and saw how my sports background added perspective.”
Additionally, Jones has presented her research at academic conferences — including the 2024 National Conference on Undergraduate Research — as pictured at left.
Jones, who is slated to graduate in Spring of 2027, plans to pursue dentistry.
“There is a lot of correlation between biomedical engineering and dentistry,” she said. “Biomedical engineering is kind of where the mechanical and biological worlds meet, and dentistry sees a lot of that. The more time I spend in engineering, the more I realize I want to be on the clinic side of things interacting with people.”
Practice (and competition) makes perfect
In the sport of ski jumping, athletes compete on both normal and large hills – measured by the hill’s “K-point” or target landing zone. The normal hill’s K-point is set at 90 meters, while the large hill is 120 meters.
A panel of five judges assesses each jump. Landing exactly on the K-point earns competitors a base score of 60, with judges adding (or subtracting) points for distance, style and wind conditions.
Jones said ski jumping is heavily impacted by weather conditions – which can sometimes change mid-event. When athletes face a tail wind for instance, judges often add points to a jump as it shortens their flight. Conversely, a headwind adds lift – resulting in points deducted.
“Any ski jumping event is a bit of a luck of the draw situation, because you never know what external factors like wind you’re going to deal with,” she said. “If it starts snowing, that slows down the track, which usually requires us to carry more speed to go the same distance. There’s always a bit of variable around that if it starts snowing in the middle of the round.”
Jones has previously competed at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Arena — located about four hours northeast of Milan in the Italian Dolomites – and host of ski jumping and Nordic combined events at the games.
Although she considers herself a normal hill specialist, Jones said she feels comfortable on Predazzo’s large hill as well.
“I had a top 20 result on the 90-meter (normal) hill,” she said. “Each hill has its own rhythm to it. The hills I like the most are older style ones – where the in-run is steeper, the transition at the bottom is quicker and the flight curve is higher, so you’re flying higher off the ground.”
Jones said she feels confident in her training and preparation leading up to the games. Ski jumpers, she added, tend to train more intensely in the offseason and focus on maintaining their strength and power during the season.
“My physical training is structured around peaking at the Olympics, which I successfully trial ran last year at World Championships,” she said. “I’ve been working with my sport psychologist as well to ensure I’ll be on my best game mentally, given the added pressure of competing on the world’s biggest stage. The competition format of the Olympics isn’t any different from other World Cup events. So far this year, I’ve had multiple top 15 jumps and many top 20 results, so I feel confident in my ability to make the finals.”
Jones’ first event at the Olympics is the normal hill, set for Saturday, Feb. 7, at 11:45 a.m. Central Time, followed by the large hill on Sunday, Feb. 15 – also at 11:45 a.m. Central Time.
Outside of competing, Jones said she is eager to meet fellow athletes from across the world.
“Our circuit is very tight knit since we spend six consecutive months together during the season — so meeting other athletes in other sports or from other countries will be really fun,” she said. “I remember from the Youth Olympic Games in 2020, that the best way to break the ice with other athletes was pin trading, so you can expect me to be all over the pin-trade game.”
Another highlight of the games for Jones will be sharing the experience with her fiancé, who is competing for Team USA in luge.
“I’ve actually never seen him compete internationally, so I’ll finally get the chance,” she said.
UND’s Olympic delegation
In addition to Jones, seven UND alumni will be representing their countries and the University at the Olympics – either as competitors, media or members of the Presidential delegation.
UND alumni at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Brock Nelson, ’12. Team USA hockey.
Jake Sanderson, ’22. Team USA hockey.
T.J. Oshie, ’08. Former UND hockey standout who played in over 1,000 NHL games, won the 2018 Stanley Cup as a member of the Washington Capitals and competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Oshie will serve as a studio analyst for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Olympic hockey tournament.
Jocelyn and Monique Lamoreux, ’13. Members of the gold medal winning 2018 Team USA women’s Olympic hockey team, the twin sisters and Grand Forks natives will represent Team USA in the opening ceremony as members of the Presidential delegation.
Michelle Karvinen, ’14. Team Finland hockey.
Susana Tapani, ’14. Team Finland hockey.
Media Contact: Joe Banish.
Email: joseph.banish@und.edu Phone: 701.777.6863
