Quinn Dehlinger had no clue what U.S. Ski and Snowboard Freestyle Director Matt Gnoza wanted to chat about when Gnoza called the morning of June 10. 

Gnoza would end up delivering the Parkite aerialist the best news of his life — he had made his first Olympic team.

Dehlinger returned from an ACL tear in 2024-25 to another career season. The 23 year old won the Deer Valley World Cup and the aerials teams World Championships. 

“It was unbelievable,” Dehlinger said about learning the news. “Having this be my first Olympic team, I think is really special. … With not having COVID this year, I think it will be a way better experience.”

Dehlinger, like the three other early-bid U.S. Ski and Snow athletes, can breathe a sigh of relief. He’ll still take the early cup season seriously, wanting to be in peak form for the Games. 

“It made all of the hard work getting back from the knee injury worth it,” Dehlinger added. “It just shows again that the hard work does pay off. … Made making the Olympics possible, which, 12 months ago, I didn’t even think was possible.”

Dehlinger has been working hard at the Center of Excellence and the Utah Olympic Park to prepare for the Olympic season. He’s part of the Flying Aces shows on the weekends at the park. 

The aerials team will jet off to finalize training in the fall in Australia. Dehlinger thought that was where his recovery really turned a corner last season. 

“We’re going to have a late summer,” Dehlinger said. “It’s going well.”

Dehlinger will look to ready his triple jumps for the Games this offseason. He doesn’t have any concrete goals yet for the event, other than to qualify for the team event leading up to it. 

Dehlinger teamed with Kaila Kuhn and Chris Lillis for the World Championships title. At the 2022 Games, Lillis, Ashley Caldwell and Justin Schoenefeld won the inaugural teams gold. 

“I’m just trying to keep going one camp at a time,” Dehlinger said. “Focus on the little things that I need to prepare to make sure that I’m doing the jumps that I need to be able to compete later in February.”

Dehlinger and the other U.S. aerialists know if they’re on top of their games they’ll be hard to beat in Milan. 

When not on the water ramps or in the gym, which is rare, Dehlinger takes time to relax golfing or climbing. He’s an avid mountain biker, but with the risks associated with that, he’s taking the summer off. 

“It’s a little bit more reckless,” Dehlinger said. “Journey is just as sweet as the destination. … When I think about the Olympics, I think about what I need to do to perform well there, and then from there I start dissecting what I need to do to make that happen.”