23
Steamboat Springs, CO
Steamboat Springs High School (Steamboat Springs, Colo.)
Annika Belshaw's path in ski jumping began at age 3 when she first experienced the rush of skiing in her hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She was immediately captivated by the adrenaline and freedom the sport provided. At age 9, inspired by her younger brother Erik's interest in ski jumping, she took her first jump at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, discovering a discipline that would define her athletic career. What started as sibling bonding evolved into a lifelong passion, with both Belshaw children eventually representing the United States on the international stage.
Belshaw's competitive journey progressed through the junior ranks, where she honed her technique on the club's jumping hills while attending Steamboat Springs High School. During the 2021-22 season, she claimed her first Continental Cup victory at Lake Placid, tying for gold with Austria's Katharina Ellmauer. That season established Belshaw as a rising force in American women's ski jumping, earning her first selection to the 2021 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships team. She also began collecting U.S. National Championship titles, a streak that would become her signature achievement. By 2022-23, Belshaw had become the most consistent American woman on the World Cup circuit, scoring points in nine individual competitions and recording a career-best 19th-place finish in Rasnov, Romania.
At the 2023 FIS Nordic World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, Belshaw achieved personal bests in both individual events, finishing 31st on the HS100 and 32nd on the HS138. Her dominance domestically continued as she captured her fourth consecutive U.S. National Championship title.. The University of Utah student balanced her academic pursuits with rigorous international competition, traveling extensively to world cup venues across Europe while maintaining her competitive edge.
Belshaw's career reached new heights during the 2024-25 season. She delivered 14 top-30 finishes and ranked 29th in the world cup overall standings, the highest placement for an American woman in years. At the historic Lake Placid World Cup in February 2025—the first time women competed in a world cup on American soil—Belshaw excelled in front of a home crowd. She achieved a career-best 14th-place finish on the second day of competition, becoming the first U.S. woman to crack the top 15 since the 2016-17 season. Later that season in Ljubno, Slovenia, she improved even further, securing seventh place to become the first American woman to finish in the top 10 since the 2016-17 season. These results helped the U.S. mixed team—featuring Belshaw alongside teammates Tate Frantz, Kevin Bickner, and Josie Johnson—secure a fifth-place finish at Lake Placid, America's best result in the mixed team event since 2012.
Named to the U.S. roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Belshaw achieved the milestone of becoming an Olympian while maintaining her domestic dominance. Her younger brother Erik also earned a spot on the Olympic team, making the Belshaw siblings the first brother-sister duo from Steamboat Springs to represent Team USA in ski jumping at the same Olympics.
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