Steamboat Springs ski jumper Decker Dean and three other American men competed in the men’s normal hill first round at the Zhangjiakou National Ski Jumping Centre on Sunday, Feb. 6.

All four put up solid jumps but didn’t crack the top 30, so they didn’t move on to the finals, which took place immediately afterward.

Dean took 44th in the first round, jumping 90 meters and earning 106.6 points.

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Casey Larson, a two-time Olympian out of Illinois, was the top American, finishing 39th. Kevin Bickner, another two-time Olympian from Illinois, was 43rd. Patrick Gasienica, an Illinois jumper making his Olympic debut, earned 49th.

Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi won gold with 275 points. Manuel Fettner, of Austria, earned silver with 270.8 points, and Dawid Kubacki, of Poland, took bronze with 265.9 points.

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The American foursome got past the qualifying round Saturday by finishing in the top 50. Dean finished 42nd in that round.

There is a large difference between 30th and 42nd, though. The World Cup finals see the top 30 advance, as well, and the American men haven’t consistently met that margin.

Dean just earned his first World Cup points Jan. 29 in Germany when he finished 26th in the large hill event. He followed that one day later with a 28th-place finish in the large hill.

Dean and his teammates will compete again at 4 a.m. Monday, Feb. 14, in the large hill first round.

To reach Shelby Reardon, call 970-871-4253, email sreardon@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @ByShelbyReardon.