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Tag: US Nordic Combined

  • Demong Braves Wind, Crowd to place 51st in NYC Marathon

    Demong Braves Wind, Crowd to place 51st in NYC Marathon

     

    Billy Demong (US Nordic Combined) and friend Sam Krieg (r) pose after finishing the 2014 NYC Marathon. Demong placed 52nd with a time of 2:33:06. (Photo: Drea Braxmeier, NYRR)
    Billy Demong (US Nordic Combined) and friend Sam Krieg (r) pose after finishing the 2014 NYC Marathon. Demong placed 51st with a time of 2:33:05. (Photo: Drea Braxmeier, NYRR)

    Nordic-combined Olympic gold medalist Billy Demong ran like a champion in the 2014 New York City Marathon. Despite having never raced a road marathon until Sunday, the 34 year old ran the 26.2-mile road race in 2:33:05 and placed 51st overall.

    What set Demong apart from the estimated field of 50,000 was his ability to adapt to the challenging conditions. With wind gusts reaching 50 miles per hour and chilly temperatures, Demong said that the race felt more like a nordic competition than a marathon.

    “It was way more of a cross-country race than a normal marathon because of the weather and the terrain,” he said on the phone Monday. “There were a lot of sharp corners and not-so-good pavement in places.”

    Hoping to run the race in 2:36:00, Demong was surprised that he surpassed his goal by three minutes on a challenging course in trying conditions.

    From the beggining of the race he ran with a pack of “sub-elite” racers that included many Scandinavians. However, the group set a blazing pace that Demong knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain while running through the five boroughs of the city.

    Demong and several other runners eventually broke off the back of the group, but were still running mile speeds that were 20 seconds faster than he wanted.

    “At that point I was like, ‘Well let’s just see. My legs feel all right. I’ll just keep going,’ ” he recalled.

    Even with the rapid pace at the beginning, Demong said that he was able to maintain his energy throughout the race and have a strong finish.

    “I didn’t ever feel like I fell apart. I really pushed it to the line,” he said. “I’m ecstatic given the conditions and the course. It was really far outside of what my training put me at. My training put me at that pace on a perfect flat day with no wind in Chicago, not in New York on the hardest day.”

    Demong, who was the 15th American male to cross the line, explained that he wanted to compete in a marathon for over ten years — dating back to his last competitive endurance running race in 2002. He had originally registered for the Oct. 12 Chicago Marathon, but due to a conflict with his team’s overseas training camp in Switzerland, Demong decided to run the New York City Marathon instead.

    It was a decision he didn’t regret.

    “I was astounded at how awesome it was,” he said. “It was a two-and-a-half hour adrenaline rush .”

    Billy Demong (US Nordic Combined) running in the NYC Marathon Sunday. (Photo: Andrew Quinn)
    Billy Demong (US Nordic Combined) running in the NYC Marathon Sunday. (Photo: Andrew Quinn)

    Demong may be in top running shape, but the 2010 Olympic gold medalist said he’s less prepared for the upcoming ski season than in years past. He explained that while his jumping is on-par, he is skiing roughly a minute slower on average than he did in previous years.

    After the Olympic games in Sochi, Demong was unsure whether or not he was ready for another season of competition.

    However, the nordic-combined veteran eventually decided to compete in the 2014/2015 season after the national team began to face its financial problems.

    One of Demong’s main goals for the year is to regain his paid spot on the World Cup so that the U.S. team will have future opportunities to send skiers to nordic combined’s highest level of racing.

    Once that goal is accomplished, Demong hopes that he will be skiing well enough to help the U.S. be competetive in the team relay at the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden.

    “We’ve had some guys who have really stepped up this summer, and we have a good team on that squad,” he said. “Hopefully I can be good enough to add to that dynamic and put us back in medal contention at World Championships.”

    U.S. Nordic Combined will begin international competition Nov. 29 and 30 at the opening weekend of the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup. Demong, however, will not attend the races in Kuusamo, Finland. Instead, he will start his World Cup season in January, when he believes that he’ll have overcome any training deficiencies.

    Full NYC Marathon results

  • 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.”

  • Five Guys and a Sewing Machine

    Five Guys and a Sewing Machine

    Olympic and World Championship gold medalists touring the world with a sewing machine? Professional athletes have unique and interesting ways of reducing stress and passing the time on the road, but sewing is not the new hobby of the US Nordic Combined, though I am sure the ski world would love to see what Todd Lodwick could come up with for the Oscars.

    The sewing machine is a critical part of the racing gear the squad needs to compete at the highest level. The issue at hand is that the FIS rulebook it as thick as the New York City Yellow Pages. The rule book details every part of the jumping competition, including equipment rules. And that’s not to be taken lightly, although the FIS officials seem to interpret them differently every time, the guys explained.

    So to be on the safe side, the nordic combined skiers generally check in the day before the competition to get their suits cleared by the local FIS technical delegates, as they interpret the rules and with their measuring tapes. If you show up on race day with a suit that is not within the standards, you get disqualified, no exceptions.

    The suit, which is made of a foam-like material, cannot be more than 5 millimeters thick. No part of the suit can be more than 6 centimeters wider than the body part it covers.

    Bryan Fletcher and a fully legal suit – at least it was legal at the FIS control the previous day.

    There are rules for how many panels of material the suits can be made from ,and how they have to be designed. For instance, the torso section is made from no more than 6 panels: two in the front, two in the back and one on each side. The distance from the seam front side to the seam on the front side on the other side has to be the same.

    Additionally, there are individual measurements that have to be considered, based on the racer’s height. For instance, Taylor Fletcher’s inseam – as measured from the center of the crotch to the ankle cuff – has to be exactly 84 centimeters, not 85 or 83.

    The veterans on the US Nordic combined team has been through the routine more times than they care to recall. And accordingly, they travel the world with a sewing machine. The seamstress on the team? Bryan Fletcher has shown that he has a good handle on the art.

    “We waste a lot of time and money on suits,” Johnny Spillane said with a sarcastic grin.

    Teammate Billy Demong sighed and agreed:

    “We spend more time dealing with jump suits than anything else in this sport.”

    The team landed on Norwegian soil on February 15, and made a beeline for the suit factory Spinno in Vikersund. A new shipment of suits was waiting, the skiers as excited as children on Christmas Day.

    “You know the feeling right off the bat. It makes everything else so much easier. You can rely on a good suit to perform. But the best guys still win,” Todd Lodwick said.

    However, the Nordic combined obsession with suits, fabrics, designs and measurements can easily be compared to the cross-country skiers’ scientific approach to picking and collecting skis. Cross-country skiers generally have a large selection of skis with all kinds of grinds and flexes. On the jumping side, nordic combined skiers don’t worry as much about skis, grinds and flexes, and often having one pair of jumping skis. So much is literally riding on the suits, or perhaps more aptly, in the suit.

  • NoCo: World Cup Makes One Last Stop Before Oslo

    After a so-so weekend in Seefeld, Austria, last weekend, the team is moving on and looking ahead to Oslo. This weekend in Chaux Neuve, France, is the last chance to compete at the World Cup level before the World Championships in Oslo next month.

    “I am excited to just compete and try to get some more points. After having two weekends of not my best races, I am just looking to improve upon the last two weekends,” said Bryan Fletcher, who has made a consistent splash into the top 30 this season.

    Fletcher is encouraged by the improving conditions in Chaux Neuve, and notes that it could not get much worse.

    “Conditions are looking better and better every day. When we showed up there was absolutely no snow,” Fletcher said in an email to FasterSkier.

    “Today it has snowed off and on all day, and the temps have dropped down a bit so that is good they are able to make snow. So the competitions look like they are going to be good,” Fletcher added.

    Aside from Bryan Fletcher, Johnny Spillane and Todd Lodwick, Billy Demong has joined the crew after staying home last weekend for the birth of his son Liam to round out the US team in Chaux Neuve. Taylor Fletcher, who raced the World Cup in Seefeld last weekend, has joined the COC crew in Harrachov, Czech Republic, to try earn some more points for the US nordic combined team.

    While the US racers are looking to make their names known and feared in time for the Worlds in Oslo, hometown favorite and current World Cup leader Jason Lamy-Chappuis is excited about the competitions in friendly territory.

    “There’s always a great atmosphere in Chaux-Neuve so I’m looking forward a lot to the competitions at home.”

    The venue at Chaux Neuve is among the most modern on the World Cup circuit. The La Cote Feuilee-Hill officially opened on December 14th 2010 after the reconstruction a HS 118. Local hero Jason Lamy-Chappuis from Bois-d’Amont made the first jump, pulling off 115 meters, and enjoyed both the honor and the hill.

    “It was an honor for me to make the first jump,” Lamy-Chappuis said to FIS Nordic Combined.

    Chaux-Neuve is not only an indicator for the World Championships in Norway, but it’s also the last chance to score World Cup points before the season final in Lahti.

  • NoCo: Taylor Fletcher in 29th Place, Earns WC Points

    Magnus Moan (NOR) won the World Cup Nordic Combined competition on Sunday, barely 1.5 seconds ahead of Jason Lamy-Chappuis (FRA) who was leading after the jumping and started the cross-country a full minute in the lead. Moan polished off the course in 24 minutes and 36.8 seconds, Lamy-Chappuis clocked in at 24:38.4. David Kreiner (AUT) was third in 24:40.5. It was an incredibly tight race among the fastest racers: The top six finished within less than five seconds of each other.

    “The strategy today was to get up on the heels of Lamy-Chappuis early and just hang out there and see what he would do,” Moan said to Norwegian TV station NRK.no after the race.

    So Moan rolled up his sleeves and went to work. In 2.5K he had reduced Lamy-Chappuis’ advantage to half, and halfway through the course, Moan was on the Frenchman’s tails. With 400 meters to go, Moan surged and literally parked Lamy-Chappuis.

    Some highlights

    Taylor Fletcher was the top American, finishing in 29th place – one of his best ever results in a World Cup competition. Dave Jarrett, US Nordic Combined Head Coach, is impressed with Taylor Fletcher’s performance in Seefeld, which landed him some World Cup points.

    “Today had some positives for sure. Taylor got some points, which was good,” Jarrett said to FasterSkier in an email after the competition.

    Jarrett also sees improvement for Johnny Spillane, who is racing his way into shape for the World Championships in Oslo next month. He recently returned to competition after an 8-month break due to injuries.

    “Johnny is definitely coming back better and better. He needs to get the competition edge sharpened, for sure,” Jarrett said, but they both know they need to be patient, and that the 2011 World Championships are the goal of the season for him, and he recognizes that the Seefeld venue is known for brutal courses along with a difficult hill and challenging snow conditions.

    “While this is new version of the hill here, (Spillane) has always struggled a bit on this hill.  Horses for courses,” Jarrett said, adding that Spillane is already excited for the next races in Chaux Neuve, France, this coming weekend.

    “Today was better for me,” Johnny Spillane said to FasterSkier after his race on Sunday.

    “I’m feeling faster every race which is a good sign,” he said, adding that it takes time to get back from an 8-month break and it takes time to dial in new equipment.

    “Jumping is still a little hit miss now, but that is due to lake of training and trying to catch up on equipment testing. Today I tried a brand new pair of skis on the jump, which adds to the stress level a little, but overall they were pretty good.”

    But Spillane is patient and knows that every competition and every training day add up and will get him closer to peaking for the World Championships in Oslo in the end of February.

    “I’m looking forward to a week of training and continuing to take some more small steps towards Oslo,” Spillane said.

    Ups and downs

    Bryan Fletcher, who has delivered consistently encouraging results this season, generally overshooting his own goals of top 30, had a tough day Sunday. He was in 43rd place after the jumping, and started 1:32 behind Lamy-Chappuis. Still, he was able to climb seven spots over the 10K course and ended up in 36th place overall.

    “Bryan didn’t jump as well as he has been but in actuality it was just a one-off jump in the comp,” said Jarrett.

    Todd Lodwick felt a little off Sunday and didn’t pull off his best game, so despite a 26 place in after the jumping – the best of any of the US racers – Lodwick decided to opt out of the cross-country Sunday.

    “Todd jumped ok, but is still struggling with his lungs and breathing issues. He felt it was better not to race and hopefully let his lungs heal a bit more before Chaux Neuve,” Jarrett said.

    The World Cup events in Chaux Neuve next weekend will be the last World Cups before the World Championships in Oslo, and also the last World Cup competition for the season aside from the Oslo events.

    Complete results here.

  • US Nordic Combined Back on the Road

    It’s time to get back to business for the US Nordic Combined team. After a few weeks of training in Park City, the crew is aiming for new World Cup competitions this weekend in Schonach (GER).

    “Training over Christmas was good and relaxing, which is always nice. Anyways, it feels good to be back on the road, and I’m excited to get back to racing. I obviously want to pick up right where I left off,” Bryan Fletcher said in an email to FasterSkier.

    The US crew pretty much hit the ground running, as usual, after touchdown in Europe. A Tuesday arrival called for Wednesday intensity and Thursday recovery before the preliminary rounds start on Friday.

    “We hammered out some intervals on Wednesday. Today is a rest day. People are feeling good and ready to go, but the course is a tough one,” Fletcher said, adding that the weather could turn things even more interesting by race day, unless it gets colder again.

    “Conditions were good here until now, however they are supposed to get warm here over the next couple days. Today it might rain,” Fletcher said.

    Wet is never good for skiers, and make things particularly challenging for jumping as well as suctiony on the cross-country course. But regardless, Fletcher is excited to get on with business.

    “I am feeling ready. I am trusting that the work has been done and that I can restart right where I left off in the last comps,” Fletcher said.

    For the World Cups in Schonach, the US Nordic Combined team is fielding four racers:  Eric Camerota, Brett Denny, Taylor Fletcher and Bryan Fletcher, led by USST Coach Chris Gilbertson. Saturday features a standard individual race, while Sunday’s event is a team competition.

    Head coach Dave Jarrett will join the group after the weekend with the rest of the US athletes. Based on the competitions this weekend, Jarrett will divide the group into two, where one crew will proceed to the next World Cup events in Seefeld (AUT) while the other group will defend the Stars & Stripes at the COC races in Klingenthal (GER).

  • World Champs Highlight Olympic Combined Team

    PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 21) – Three World Champions were among five athletes announced Thursday by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) to compete on the 2010 Olympic Nordic Combined Ski Team. Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY), Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane (both Steamboat Springs, CO) will headline the strongest U.S. team ever in the sport.

    USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt, together with the U.S. Olympic Committee and Team partner Visa, announced the roster of athletes to compete in the nordic combined events at the Whistler Olympic Park north of Vancouver.

    With the announcement, Lodwick, who came out of retirement to compete in the 2008-09 season, became only the second American to be named to five Winter Olympic Teams (matching bobsledder Brian Shimer). The 33-year old was on the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and now 2010 Olympic Teams.

    “This is a group of proven champions that has come together after many years of working together as a Team,” U.S. Nordic Director John Farra.

    Spillane, the 2003 World Champion, is enjoying his strongest season ever. In December, he beat his World Champion teammates on their home Steamboat Springs course to win the Olympic Trials. He came back in January to take a career first World Cup win.

    Lodwick skied an abbreviated schedule but still managed podium finishes in Val di Fiemme, Italy and Chaux-Neuve, France, and was in the top six in all but one of his seven World Cups.

    Demong was skiing his best all season in mid-January, including a win on a terrifyingly hilly course in Val di Fiemme where he won, nearly leading a 1-2-3 sweep with Lodwick second.

    Brett Camerota (Park City, UT) and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) each cracked into World Cup points. Camerota was 18th in Ramsau, Austria in mid-December while Fletcher scored his first career points earlier in January to clinch a fifth quota spot for the USA. Fletcher is the lone skier on the Team making his Olympic debut.

    The best USA Olympic performance in nordic combined came in 2002 when the four-man team narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth. Lodwick, Spillane and Demong were all on that squad. In that same Games, Lodwick was fifth. Demong was seventh and Spillane tenth for their best finishes in Torino four years ago.

    The Olympic Team coaching staff will be headed by former U.S. Ski Team athlete Dave Jarrett, who began coaching at the U.S. Ski Team in 2002, moving up to head coach in 2008.

    “This is the most prepared group of athletes I have seen,” said Dave Jarrett, a former Nordic combined athlete who has been involved with the sport at the Olympic level since 1988. “The Big Three have been working hard and positioning themselves to be medal threats their entire careers. They have World Cup and World Championship pedigrees that reflect it, too.”

    According to Jarrett, Camerota will be fighting with Taylor Fletcher for the right to compete as the fourth athlete in the individual competitions as well as the team event.

    Athletes are presently training around at their homes in Steamboat Springs and Park City, preparing for a pre-Olympic camp in Park City Feb. 1-8. During the camp the Team will jump at the Utah Olympic Park and train cross country on the Olympic trails at Soldier Hollow near Midway. The Team will arrive in Vancouver on Feb. 9 to prepare for a schedule that includes two individual and one four-man team medal events with the first competition on Sunday, Feb. 14.

    The Team is subject to final review by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

    2010 U.S. OLYMPIC NORDIC COMBINED SKI TEAM

    (name, hometown, age as of opening ceremonies, birthdate, (past Olympics))

    Brett Camerota, Park City, UT, 25, 1/9/85 (2006)

    Billy Demong, Vermontville, NY, 29, 3/29/80, (1998, 2002, 2006)

    Taylor Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, 19, 5/11/90

    Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, CO, 33, 10/21/76 (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)

    Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO, 29, 11/24/80 (1998, 2002, 2006)