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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: nordic combined team event

  • U.S. NoCo Shifts Focus to Team Event, Best Medal Chance in Sochi

    U.S. NoCo Shifts Focus to Team Event, Best Medal Chance in Sochi

    From left to right: Todd Lodwick, Billy Demong, Bryan Fletcher and Taylor Fletcher with their bronze medals from Sunday's team event at the 2013 Nordic Combined World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)
    From left to right: Todd Lodwick, Billy Demong, Bryan Fletcher and Taylor Fletcher with their bronze medals from the team event at the 2013 Nordic Combined World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)

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    KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Today is the day for U.S. Nordic Combined. Its four Olympians pinned the 4 x 5-kilometer team event as their best shot at a Sochi Winter Games medal as far back as a year ago when they won their country’s first-ever World Championships medal in the event in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

    Not everything had panned out exactly as planned in the season that followed; in early January, Todd Lodwick crashed on a jump in France a day before the World Cup there. He immediately flew to the team’s primary base in Park City, Utah, for further evaluation, and spent the next few weeks rehabbing his shoulder there.

    His first time back jumping wouldn’t come until Sochi about two weeks ago.

    Meanwhile, the team narrowly missed out on getting a fifth member to score World Cup points, which could have granted them a fifth quota spot at the Sochi Olympics. That would’ve taken the pressure off Lodwick, a six-time Olympian in his final Winter Games, to compete in the team event.

    Regardless, Lodwick has been one of the top Americans on the normal- and large-hill competitions at the RusSki Gorki Ski Jumping Center, jumping to 34th on Day 1 and 30th on Day 2.  He opted not to race the 10 k Gundersen starts in both competitions, allowing his shoulder to continue to heal as much as possible before the relay.

    Thursday marks Day 3, the final day of nordic-combined competition at the 2014 Olympics, and Lodwick hasn’t raced internationally in nearly two months.

    “We came into these Olympics knowing that getting back on my skis and getting back in shape and knowing that I can jump … and having the confidence to do that,” Lodwick told the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) after Tuesday’s large-hill jump. “We are continuing to gain every single day — just builds more confidence through the team event, which is the reason why we came here in the first place. … I’m in a really good place, and taking in the Olympic spirit is something that is really rare for a lot of people, especially as an athlete, and I’m just trying to live every moment of it.”

    Taylor Fletcher, Billy Demong, and Bryan Fletcher racing together in the individual 10 k at World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
    Taylor Fletcher, Billy Demong, and Bryan Fletcher racing together in the individual 10 k at World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

    So far, the top U.S. result in nordic combined at these Olympics has been Taylor Fletcher’s 20th two days ago. Bryan Fletcher placed 22nd in the same individual event, and Billy Demong — the defending large-hill/10 k champion — finished 38th. Almost a week earlier Demong led the team in 24th on the normal hill.

    On Tuesday, the Fletcher brothers and Demong each knocked off at least five places to finish with a better result than where their jumps put them, with Taylor skiing up 15 spots with the sixth-fastest time. Bryan improved from 27th on the large hill, and Demong moved up from 38th.

    “Obviously things haven’t been going too great, I’ve had a super up-and-down year,” Taylor said.

    With pouring rain complicating the jump, causing at least two men to crash in front of him, Taylor had to wait more than 10 minutes at the top of the hill. The rain didn’t stop all afternoon, lasting through the 10 k as well.

    “It was just like wait, wait, wait and then I ended up having a strong jump – a jump I was happy with,” he said. “I had the worst wind on the hill so to have that jump in those conditions – I can’t be disappointed. I came out and had a good race, I was happy with the race. I skied away and picked up the tempo on each lap and I felt really, really good. So it’s a step forward for the team event.”

    Demong left Tuesday’s competition disappointed and at a loss for words: “I swore I woke up feeling like today was the day, and right up until I landed that first comp jump, I didn’t see anything coming,” he said. “I mean, I feel great, body-wise and everything. It’s kinda devastating, really.”

    Unsure why his competition jump was the shortest in the last few days by 10 meters, Demong explained not knowing what to correct was the problem.

    “I think I’m old enough and wise enough to have expectations and be able to follow through on them and then a day like today happens and it throws you for a loop,” he said. “I swear I felt the same tingle today that I felt in Vancouver. … Everything feels like it’s in the right place. I did a really good job tapering. I’ve been sick a lot, but that’s always the case. I won World Championships in 2009 with a cold, so I don’t want to make any excuses, but I’m certainly going to look for a more concrete reason why things didn’t go any better.”

    The youngest member of the team, Taylor, 23, said Demong had a “fantastic” trial jump. “He’s just gotta figure out what he’s doing – if he’s putting a little bit too much pressure on himself or what.”

    Talking about the rest of his teammates, Taylor said, “Todd showed today that he can still jump … and he hasn’t taken many jumps, so each jump he takes is gonna get better and better. And Bryan showed that he’s consistent. He didn’t have a great jump [Tuesday] and he was still right in there, and he’s skiing fast. So I’m looking forward to the team event; I think we have a strong team. We may not be showing it on the results in the individual comps, but a little spirit comes into these team comps and everyone pulls out a little bit of extra … I think it’s gonna be special when we come to this, and we’re gonna let it happen.”

    Thursday’s 4 x 5 k team event starts at 3 p.m. Moscow time. Click here for live results.

    ***

    Update: Out of the nine teams that started on Thursday, the U.S. unofficially ranked eighth after the jump and will start the relay 1:52 behind Germany.

    At World Championships last year, the Americans started fifth, 1:02 behind the race leader, to finish third 4.2 seconds behind the French winners.

    Previous results:Normal hill/10 k | Large hill/10 k

    — Rosalie Lipfert and Seth Adams contributed reporting

  • On Trip Home, Bryan Fletcher Reflects on Kuusamo World Cup

    On Trip Home, Bryan Fletcher Reflects on Kuusamo World Cup

    The International Ski Federation (FIS) tweeted this photo of the ski jump in Kuusamo, Finland, with the caption “Winter Wonderland.” US Nordic Combined member Bryan Fletcher wrote on his blog it was just that: “Despite rumors of little snow in Kuusamo, by the time we arrived there was plenty of snow, cold conditions and great jumping.”

    Since arriving in Lillehammer, Norway, a few weeks ago, the US Nordic Combined Team has been seeking big things. Well, maybe not right off the bat, but any professional athlete wants good results.

    Bryan Fletcher, 26, led the effort by continuing to improve his, placing 14th in the individual large-hill competition Saturday and ninth with brother Taylor in the team event Sunday. That was up from Bryan’s results in Lillehammer, where he was 22nd in the penalty race and 38th in the preceding normal-hill competition.

    This weekend, the Fletchers were the lone Americans to qualify for Saturday after Friday’s provisional jumping round . Bryan ranked eighth on the large hill and Taylor squeaked by in 47th to make the top-50 standard. Billy Demong was 51st in the provisional round and Todd Lodwick was last in 61st.

    “Not what I was expecting today on the hill,” Lodwick tweeted on Friday, nearly a week after leading the U.S. in 24th in Lillehammer Nov. 24. “As one might say, only up from here!!! Keeping my head up …”

    On Saturday, Bryan ranked 11th on the hill while Taylor was disqualified because of his equipment. Bryan went on to post the 13th-fastest ski time for an overall finish of 14th, 33 seconds behind winner Jason Lamy Chappuis of France.

    “I kicked of the weekend by having the longest jump in the first round of official training,” Bryan wrote on his blog Monday. “I followed that up with two more solid jumps and placed 8th in the provisional comp. This brought my confidence up and I was ready to go for real the next day.

    “Saturday we were fortunate to have decent conditions on the hill and I was able to keep my jumping alive by placing 11th,” he added. “Going into the XC I was a little nervous seeing as last weekend was not my most spectacular racing by any means. After the first lap I found myself fighting for the podium, feeling good like my normal self.  I gave it a valiant effort but was unsuccessful in staying with the group.  I finished a respectable 14th place. I had the 13th fastest time though which shows that the shape is coming.”

    Excited to team up with his brother in Sunday’s two-man event, the two put themselves in ninth after the jump.

    “The snow was a major factor on Sunday, many of the teams struggled with the jumping portion,” Bryan wrote. “Taylor stepped up huge in his jumping and that was a big factor in our placing.”

    In the race, in which teammates alternate laps, the Fletchers were gunning for the top six until the second to last lap.

    “Once we lost contact with the group 9th place was our clear placement,” Bryan explained. “However both Tay and I came into the day with no expectations and to be honest we were surprised to even be in the hunt. There is still a lot of work to be done but at least we know we are on the right track.”

    On Monday, the US Nordic Combined men were flying back to Park City, Utah, where they’ll spend a week training before heading to the World Cup in Ramsau, Austria, Dec. 15-16. (they are skipping next weekend’s World Cup in Erzurum, Turkey).

    “I am excited to continue the momentum [in Ramsau],” Bryan wrote. “Hopefully combine some solid jump results with races just like the first day in Kuusamo.”