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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: USA Nordic Sport

  • The Case for Transparency in the USA Biathlon–USSS Integration Talks

    The Case for Transparency in the USA Biathlon–USSS Integration Talks

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    I was reviewing recent U.S. Ski & Snowboard Cross Country Sport Committee meeting minutes and came across an interesting note in the April 7, 2026, meeting. The following item stood out:

    “Rick shared the announcement of adding Para Cross Country and that there is a strong drive from the USOPC to move Biathlon governance under USSS.”

    That immediately raised a larger question. Years ago, U.S. Ski & Snowboard decentralized Nordic disciplines because they were financially difficult to sustain. Now, the organization appears willing to absorb another financially struggling discipline.

    Campbell Wright (USA) takes aim during the men’s relay at the IBU World Championships in Lenzerheide (SUI) in 2025. (Photo: NordicFocus)

    The Questions

    Over the last week, I reached out to representatives from USA Biathlon, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee with several specific questions regarding the discussions around potentially moving USA Biathlon under USSS governance. The questions were straightforward:

    • Why is the USOPC driving this discussion?
    • What does the USOPC believe the benefit of this move would be?
    • Is the push in any way related to USA Biathlon’s previously reported cultural and athlete protection failures?
    • If these discussions are connected to systemic governance failures, why were the corrective mechanisms outlined in the Sports Act not pursued first, including mandated reforms, leadership changes, sanctions, or ultimately decertification of the NGB?

    In its spring meeting minutes, USA Biathlon framed the discussions as an opportunity to transform the sport and accelerate long-term development, specifically through expanded athlete support, increased visibility, broader talent identification, and enhanced fundraising and sponsorship opportunities.

    The response from USSS was carefully worded:

    “U.S. Ski & Snowboard and U.S. Biathlon are exploring a potential integration aimed at growing the sport and strengthening long-term performance. Discussions are ongoing, and both organizations are committed to a thoughtful, athlete-first approach.”

    The USOPC response was similarly broad:

    “Can confirm that we are engaged and aware of the ongoing discussions between USSS and USA Biathlon, and supportive of actions that provide increased levels of athlete support and long-term organizational stability.”

    None of the organizations addressed the underlying questions.

    It is difficult to believe the negative publicity and lack of accountability surrounding multiple abuse cases within USA Biathlon did not create operational and funding consequences. It is equally difficult to understand how moving USA Biathlon under USSS materially improves athlete opportunities when the existing Nordic programs already operate under significant financial pressure.

    The 2007 Precedent

    The discussion also seems contradictory given what occurred in 2007, when the then-United States Ski Association/U.S. Ski Team eliminated direct national team funding for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, citing financial sustainability concerns. At the time, the core message from USSA leadership was clear:

    • Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined were too financially difficult to sustain within a centralized national team structure.
    • The sports needed to develop independent fundraising and governance models.
    • The creation of USA Nordic Sport was presented as a way to ensure the long-term survival of those disciplines through independent leadership and donor support.

    The rationale then was limited resources and the need to prioritize disciplines with stronger medal potential. If those same arguments were applied consistently today, they would appear to point toward similar conclusions regarding USA Biathlon.

    The U.S. Biathlon team and staff celebrate a Lowell Bailey’s gold medal in Hochfilzen in 2017. (Photo: USBA/NordicFocus.com/Twitter)

    The Performance and Financial Picture

    USA Biathlon has struggled for decades within its centralized development model. The program has never won an Olympic medal. Its financial structure remains heavily dependent on external institutional support. The closest the United States has come to a modern Olympic breakthrough was Lowell Bailey, whose 2017 World Championship gold medal represented a historic result for the program.

    More recently, Campbell Wright’s rapid rise has dramatically changed expectations. Olympic podiums now appear to be viewed internally as realistic rather than aspirational.

    Financially, the organization remains highly dependent on the USOPC and the International Biathlon Union. In 2023, those two sources combined to provide just under $2 million in funding. Membership revenue totaled approximately $305,000. Together, those categories represented roughly 70% of total organizational revenue, illustrating how limited the organization’s independent sponsorship and fundraising capacity remains.

    Overall, USA Biathlon reported approximately $3.2 million in annual revenue against roughly $3.2 million in expenses, essentially operating at break-even. Based on expense reporting, it appears less than $800,000 was directed toward direct athlete programs and support. USA Biathlon categorized approximately $2.4 million under “Functional Business” expenses tied to trials, training, competition, and development programs, yet more than $700,000 of that consisted of staffing and contract labor costs. In total, staffing and operational expenses appear to exceed $2 million annually, roughly 63% of total expenditures.

    That leaves very little financial margin for error. USA Biathlon appears to be operating in a structurally fragile position where revenues and expenses are essentially balanced while administrative and operational costs consume the majority of available resources.

    What Does USSS Gain?

    Given the current financial picture, and the program’s historical performance trajectory, it is difficult to see how USA Biathlon brings anything other than additional financial pressure to USSS. So the obvious question becomes: what does USSS gain from the arrangement?

    Presumably, increased USOPC funding. USA Biathlon’s own 2030 strategic plan lays out explicitly outcome-based goals:

    • “Consistent medal winning performances every year,”
    • beginning with “one Olympic medal in 2026,”
    • and progressing toward “four [Olympic medals] in 2030, at least one gold.”

    That language closely mirrors the increasingly performance-driven funding expectations the USOPC now places on National Governing Bodies.

    It is clear USA Biathlon currently faces significant operational and financial challenges in supporting athletes at the level required for sustained international success. Campbell Wright’s emergence has only intensified the pressure surrounding those expectations. What remains unclear is how simply moving the sport under USSS materially changes the equation.

    There may be some operational efficiencies through shared services and administrative consolidation, perhaps several hundred thousand dollars annually. But regardless of governance structure, the fundamental reality remains the same: the sport will require substantially more funding if it expects to support athletes at a level capable of producing consistent Olympic success.

    Athlete Trust

    The unresolved issue in all of this is athlete trust. Financial instability and competitive underperformance are one thing. Failures involving athlete safety, organizational culture, and accountability are something entirely different.

    Over the last several years, USA Biathlon has faced significant public scrutiny surrounding athlete abuse allegations and broader questions about organizational oversight. Whether or not those issues are directly tied to the current governance discussions, it is difficult to believe they are irrelevant to the long-term stability of the organization.

    For athletes and families, trust matters. Those athletes impacted by abuse allegations have asked for accountability for those who minimized their reports of abuse and failed to report. Parents should be evaluating a development pathway, not simply assessing coaching quality or race results. They should be asking whether the organization can provide a healthy, stable, and safe environment for athletes.

    Once an NGB develops a public reputation for cultural or athlete protection failures, rebuilding confidence becomes extraordinarily difficult. That impacts membership growth, fundraising, athlete retention, and ultimately performance itself.

    The Case for Transparency

    Which is why transparency matters here. If the proposed integration is fundamentally about operational efficiency and athlete support, then that case should be made openly and directly. If it is also connected to concerns surrounding governance, accountability, or organizational stability, those questions deserve equally direct answers.

    Without that transparency, the process begins to look less like strategic planning and more like institutional consolidation without meaningful public accountability.

     

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    Campbell Wright (USA) after the IBU World Championships Biathlon, sprint in Lenzerheide (SUI). (Photo: NordicFocus)
  • 2018/2019 U.S. Nordic Combined Nominations

    2018/2019 U.S. Nordic Combined Nominations

    Also on Thursday, USA Nordic Sport, the organization behind U.S. nordic combined and ski jumping, announced its nominations for all of its 2018/2019 national teams.

    Tara Geraghty-Moats at 2018 U.S. Olympic trials (Photo: Tara Geraghty-Moats/Instagram)

    The nordic-combined team includes six men and for the first time, a woman, with Tara Geraghty-Moats on the 2018 Women’s Nordic Combined National “C” Team. (Geraghty-Moats is also a member of USA Nordic’s Women’s Ski Jumping “C” Team.)

    On the men’s Nordic Combined National Team, 2018 Olympian and Junior World Championships bronze medalist Ben Loomis stands as the lone A-team member following Bryan Fletcher’s retirement. The B-team includes team veteran Taylor Fletcher, Jasper Good and Stephen Schumann, while Grant Andrews and Jared Shumate were nominated to the C-team.

    “We are excited about our continued expansion of our teams and with the exciting development of Women’s Nordic Combined including confirmation of the event in the 2021 World Championships!” USA Nordic Executive Director Bill Demong said in the press release. “Tara Geraughty-Moats continues to be one of our top talents in the sport and, though she was unable to compete in any Nordic Combined competitions last year due to injury, USA Nordic recognizes the importance of growing our sports and developing athletes who have the ability to push the envelope and we are excited to lead growth and opportunity in this new discipline of Womens Nordic Combined.”

    USA Nordic 2018/2019 Men’s Nordic Combined National Team

    (Name, age, hometown)

    A-team

    Ben Loomis, 19 (Eau Claire, WI)

    B-team

    Taylor Fletcher, 28 (Steamboat Springs, CO)

    Jasper Good, 22 (Steamboat Springs, CO)

    Stephen Schumann, 18 (Park City, UT)

    C-team

    Grant Andrews, 20 (Steamboat Springs, CO)

    Jared Shumate, 18 (Park City, UT)

    Women’s Nordic Combined National Team

    C-team

    Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, VT)

  • FasterSkier’s Nordic Combined Skier of the Year: Bryan Fletcher

    FasterSkier’s Nordic Combined Skier of the Year: Bryan Fletcher

    Bryan Fletcher (U.S. Nordic Combined) is FasterSkier’s 2018 Nordic Combined Skier of the Year. (Photo: US Ski Team)

    With the 2017/2018 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to outstanding North American nordic combined athletes.

    Previous categories: Junior Skiers of the Year | Collegiate Skiers of the Year | Biathletes of the Year| Para-Nordic Skiers of the Year

    ***

    At 31 years old, it’s safe to say U.S. Nordic Combined’s Bryan Fletcher has been a beneficiary of the axiom, “What comes around goes around”. What came around when Fletcher literally jumped and skied onto the scene in 2002 was a cadre of athletes setting the performance bar at a high level. Fletcher followed in the steps of Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane, Brett Camerota, and Billy Demong. In his last season as a professional nordic-combined competitor, Fletcher had several standout performances but also allowed himself to bring some of the stability and veteran leadership he learned about years ago to a young U.S. Nordic Combined Team.

    Fletcher was a rock for skiers like 19-year-old Ben Loomis, who earned a bronze at World Juniors. Loomis is one example, but the U.S. team as a whole, trends towards the younger side of twenty. With younger eyes on him as a mentor and athlete, Fletcher navigated performance disappointments and hiccups to score some standout performances on the Nordic Combined World Cup.

    Bryan Fletcher (USA Nordic) jumping to 45th in the Nordic Combined World Cup on Dec. 17 in Ramsau, Austria. In the 10 k that followed, he skied the third-fastest time to finish 14th overall. (Photo: Romina Eggert/USA Nordic Facebook)

    Fletcher entered 12 World Cups, 10 of which were individual races. In only one individual race did he place outside the top 30 (he finished 32nd on Dec. 1 in Val di Fiemme, Italy). Of his remaining individual races, Fletcher was out of the top 20 just one other time (placing 29th on Nov. 26 at the season-opener in Kuusamo, Finland).

    Fletcher’s other eight races were all top 20’s. In Ramsau, Austria, he scored a seventh place. And in his last career World Cup on March 14 in Trondheim, Norway, Fletcher matched his season-best result with another seventh place.

    One can hear any athlete say these weren’t exactly the results they were looking for. That would be true in Fletcher’s case as well. Yet he was more than consistent in terms of keeping himself within striking distance of several podiums. Those opportunities came most often from Fletcher’s skiing rather than his jumping. At season’s end, he was the 42nd-ranked overall jumper on the Nordic Combined World Cup. To prove our point, he was ranked the 15th-best skier. (Overall, he ranked 29th on the World Cup this season.)

    Here are Fletcher’s best cross-country race times (in the 10-kilometer Gundersen starts) of the 2017-2018 World Cup season:

    Nov. 25, Kuusamo, Finland: Fourth fastest time of day

    Dec. 16, Ramsau, Austria: Second fastest time of day

    Dec. 17, Ramsau: Third fastest time of day

    Jan. 14, Val di Fiemme, Italy: Second fastest time of day

    From a domestic perspective, Fletcher proved he’s still the best U.S. nordic combined athlete. During a high-pressure format — the only guaranteed U.S. Nordic Combined Olympic spot was reserved for the winner of U.S. Nordic Combined’s Olympic Trials on Dec. 30 in Park City, Utah — Fletcher found himself in fifth place after the jumping round. A full 1:24 minutes behind the best jumper Ben Loomis. Yet in typical fashion, Fletcher’s podium hunt on skis ended with a first place and a booked trip to PyeongChang for his second Olympic Games. 

    In both individual events in PyeongChang, Fletcher was the best American finisher, placing 17th twice.

    For being the best-performing American nordic combined skier, Fletcher receives the nod for Nordic Combined skier of the year. But don’t forget, Fletcher is the whole package: in the 2017/2018 season, he was a leader, professional role model, and mentor to the young ones chasing his ski tails.

  • Nordic Nation: Sealing the Olympic Deal with Bryan Fletcher

    Nordic Nation: Sealing the Olympic Deal with Bryan Fletcher

    In this episode of Nordic Nation, we discuss the recent U.S. Nordic Combined Olympic Trials, which were held Dec. 30 in Park City, Utah, with U.S. NoCo’s leading man, Bryan Fletcher. Nerves, pressure, the flying and skiing — those all played a role on Fletcher’s day at Olympic trials. After the jumping portion of the competition, things weren’t so certain for the eventual winner, as Fletcher began the 10-kilometer ski race nearly a minute and a half behind the first starter, Ben Loomis. We connected with Fletcher, a 31-year-old dad, from his home in Heber, Utah, last week on Jan. 3 as he reflected on sealing the Olympic deal.

    Fletcher also discusses the prospects of U.S. Nordic Combined fielding a team of four skiers at the upcoming Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. For now, the U.S. is guaranteed two spots. And as Fletcher explains, hope remains for two more athlete spots to open up.

    Trials results: Jumping | Final results

    Note: Since Fletcher’s interview, he and his brother Taylor competed at the first Nordic Combined World Cup of the new year, which took place on Friday, Jan. 12 in Val di Fiemme, Italy. There, Bryan finished 32nd (up from 39th in the jump) and Taylor placed 43rd (up from 49th). Full results here

    (To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)

  • Another Sport for Geraghty-Moats: Women’s NoCo Hits Continental Cup

    Another Sport for Geraghty-Moats: Women’s NoCo Hits Continental Cup

    Russian ski jumper Sofia Tikhonova during the women’s 100HS final at 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Dustin Satloff/dustinsatloff.com)

    For Tara Geraghty-Moats, nothing compares to the sense of weightlessness she feels and the way spectators appear to sink into the ground when she soars off a ski jump — except maybe the feeling of pushing her physical limits during a cross-country ski race.

    The two sports have been a part of the 24-year-old New England native’s life since her grammar-school days — she picked up both at the age of 9 and in both, she excelled.

    By the time she was 15, her jumping talents earned her a spot on the Women’s Ski Jumping USA development team, and she captured third place at the 2009 Springer Tournee in Park City, Utah. But within a year of her nomination, due to concurrent knee injuries, she was forced to leave the ski hill and for the next four seasons, she focused on cross-country skiing.

    Vermonter Tara Garaghty-Moats (c) after winning the junior sprint at 2013 Swedish Biathlon Championships. (Courtesy photo)

    Geraghty-Moats went on to rack up multiple medals at Junior Nationals, including a gold. Worried she might lose interest in cross-country, she put a rifle on her back and took up biathlon. From 2011 to 2014, she raced four seasons with US Biathlon’s Junior National biathlon team and in 2013, she won the junior sprint at Swedish Biathlon Championships.

    Despite being told she would never jump again, she returned to the hill in 2013. That same year, she jumped to fifth at ski-jumping nationals in Lake Placid, N.Y., which earned her nomination to the Women’s Ski Jumping USA World Cup B-team. 

    While Geraghty-Moats saw success in both jumping and XC over the years, she never had the opportunity to showcase her combined abilities at an international level. Not because she didn’t want to, but because the opportunity didn’t exist — until this year.

    “We have sort of been waiting for the sport to catch up with Tara Geraghty-Moats for quite a while,” Billy Demong, executive director for USA Nordic Sport (the U.S. governing body for men’s ski jumping and nordic combined) said on the phone earlier this month.

    Geraghty-Moats on the range at 2011 Swedish Biathlon Nationals. (Photo: Per Nilsson)

    Now it appears to be heading in Geraghty-Moats’s favor. Prior to this season, most of the cross-country ski training she did was either for pleasure or to maintain fitness for ski jumping. Now her training will take on a new meaning, as for the first time in history, women’s nordic combined will be included in the International Ski Federation (FIS) Continental Cup schedule. The inaugural women’s Nordic Combined event in the U.S. will be the USSA National Championships in Lake Placid on October 7. Demong anticipates eight to ten women to participate in the event. 

    “I’ve been wanting to compete on an international level for nordic combined for a long time,” Geraghty-Moats said on the phone this month. “It’s something I’m really invested in long term and something I’d like to see at a World Championships and Olympic-level competition. I’m really looking forward to helping develop the sport and helping mentor the younger girls that are getting into and also performing at a high level internationally.”

    Women’s nordic combined has not yet been contested at the World Cup or Olympic level. Since this season marks an Olympic year, Geraghty-Moats will put her focus on World Cup ski-jumping events and enter as many FIS nordic-combined Continental Cups as she can.

    “The ideal situation would be that I would qualify [for the 2018 Winter Olympics] in ski jumping and then am able to compete all the nordic combined races,” she said. “But there’s no way for me to tell where I’ll be in the points for the Olympic qualifying competitions … so hopefully I’ll be able to do them all, but I don’t really know.”

    According to Demong, incorporating women’s nordic combined into the FIS schedule has been “on the radar for quite a while.” However, one blockade that prevented immediate action was the risk of draining athletes from a developing sport. Women’s ski jumping was added to Nordic World Ski Championships in 2009, the World Cup in 2011 and the Olympics in 2014.

    “I think [women’s nordic combined] has really been in discussion since it was obvious that women’s ski jumping was going to be in the Olympics,” Demong said. “At the FIS level, I think one of the biggest challenges is with women’s ski jumping, you still have a developing sport. The ranks just aren’t as large and deep as the men’s side. And so I think there was a lot of fear that if you add another discipline, it could truncate the growth of women’s jumping.”

    Sarah Hendrickson (Women’s Ski Jumping USA) taking flight during a summer competition in 2011. (Photo: Dan Campbell)

    Over the past few years, the U.S. has seen more junior women participating in ski jumping. According to Demong, some a clubs have doubled their numbers within the last five years.

    “The largest increase we saw in any user group was U8 [under 8], U10, and U12 in the Midwest, but also in Park City there was a pretty big increase, too,” he said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of participation before probably because they didn’t see a pathway. There were some diehards, like Tara and Gabby [Armstrong], but there weren’t droves of them and I think now there will be more in the sport because there’s a much more clear pipeline.”

    This year will also be the first year that women’s nordic combined will be included at Junior World Championships. To Demong’s knowledge, Geraghty-Moats and Armstrong are the only two senior American women that plan to compete in the FIS Continental Cup competitions. Both will be supported by USA Nordic national-team staff at nordic-combined events, since the women’s events are scheduled to align with the men’s competitions.

    “We have some really good 14 and 15 year olds that we’d like to see participate in the FIS Youth Cups again this year,” Demong added.

    Also this year, the inaugural Women’s Nordic Combined National Championships will be held Oct. 7 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

    With a longtime dream finally coming to fruition, Geraghty-Moats is not ready to let it end there.

    “I don’t necessarily schedule things four years out,” she said. “But I definitely know that nordic-combined is going to be in my goals as an athlete for the foreseeable future. Obviously I need to stay healthy and continue doing things in my life, like going to school and staying at a high level of skiing, but I’m 100-percent sure that I will do nordic combined for as long as possible.”

  • USA Nordic Transitions as Jarrett and Schafer Step Down

    USA Nordic Transitions as Jarrett and Schafer Step Down

    U.S. Nordic Combined’s 2011/2012 team members (from left to right) Billy Demong, Bryan Fletcher and Taylor Fletcher with head coach Dave Jarrett at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: USSA)

    Listed at the bottom of a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA) press release announcing U.S. Nordic Combined Head Coach Dave Jarrett’s retirement are his coaching highlights. It’s a long list defined by two things: Olympic and World Championship medals and longevity. Jarrett will forever be linked with the iconic names of U.S. nordic combined, including Billy Demong, Johnny Spillane and Todd Lodwick. His coaching legacy rewinds back to the 2002/2003 World Cup season.

    Before that, as a nordic-combined athlete, Jarrett was a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1992-1996 and is a two-time Olympian. He’s a lifer. And for lifers, separation from what they have always known remains difficult.

    “I have been doing it a long time both as an athlete and and a coach,” Jarrett, 46, told FasterSkier on the phone. “It is now of those things where all of sudden it hits you, like, you are tired. You’re not able to go give everything and do everything. And certainly, it’s hard to justify a lot of time on the road. Missing family things, but also on the athletic side you are not able to give to the athletes everything that you need to give.”

    Until 2014, USSA managed the U.S. Nordic Combined Team. The team is now run by USA Nordic, yet Jarrett’s position has remained under USSA’s umbrella — they continued to pay his salary. With the 2014 split, Jarrett’s responsibilities grew as he took on both coaching duties as well as some of the logistics of running a team.

    Dave Jarrett, head coach of U.S. Nordic Combined, during the 2013/2014 season. (Photo: USSA)

    “Honestly, it’s amazing he lasted as long as he did,” U.S. Nordic Combined A-team member Bryan Fletcher said on the phone from his home in Park City, Utah. “He’s definitely a trooper, for sure. It was pretty intense because he was still employed by USSA and still had bosses there, but he also had bosses on USAN and had obligations on both sides of the coin. That combined with continuing his education research for coaching stuff, it adds up quick. And then doing all the travel logistics for not only World Cup but for World Cup and B-team and then having to be there in person, it was insane.”

    Taylor Fletcher, another longtime U.S. Nordic Combined athlete and Bryan’s younger brother, also noted the stress on Jarrett.

    “He had definitely been challenged … he had to go from a full-time coach to a full-time coach and a team manager,” Taylor explained on the phone. “He was in charge of doing a lot of the fundraising, and all the aspects to keep our sport alive in the U.S. And that really took a toll on him and that was definitely difficult on all of us. But also, I think it put way more weight on his shoulders than he really needed.”

    Diminishing funds correlates to increased non-coaching responsibilities for coaches, less on-snow time and more connecting the non-competitive dots for athletes. Jarrett weathered that type of job description metamorphosis. Ski coaching at the elite international level is an all-encompassing life, and he lived it for 15 years.

    “For me and my wife, we got married while I was still an athlete and so this is a lifestyle, the only lifestyle we have ever really ever known,” Jarrett said. “Both of my children were born in 2002 and 2004. Again this is a lifestyle that’s all they have ever known.”

    Demong, USA Nordic’s executive director for the last year, has spent nearly his entire international-skiing career under Jarrett’s wing. The two became teammates back during the 1996/1997 season when Demong bumped up to national-team status.

    “DJ had a good understanding of physiology, so he and I bonded over that in the beginning,” Demong said. “Especially given the fact at the time we had a really good team culture developing but we didn’t have the physiological expertise in our training programs and that sort frustrated both us. So we sort of found a commonality there right out of the gate.”

    After completing his competitive career, Jarrett went on to earn a degree in exercise physiology and kinesiology from the University of Colorado. He was able to bring his education into play as he joined the coaching ranks.

    The U.S. Nordic Combined team takes a break at the top of the Col de la Madeleine during a 2009 training camp in nearby Courchevel, France. From left to right: Bill Demong, Johnny Spillane, coach Dave Jarrett, and Todd Lodwick (Photo: USSA)

    “When he came back to coaching it was really a breath of fresh air,” Demong said about Jarrett’s academic and nordic-sports knowledge. “We had built this great culture and were all working really hard, but we still didn’t have the plan training-wise that I felt we needed.

    “Going back to my high-school running days, we peaked when we wanted to peak for states and federations, and when we were doing our nordic training I felt like we were sort of doing what other nordic-combined skiers did, which was get up, ski, or get up, go jump, have lunch, go ski, go home,” he continued. “And DJ brought a ton of new ideas and concepts that he had learned in school as well as from networking with other sports. DJ really helped pioneer a lot of things on the physiological side and take our team from good culture, talented hard working athletes, to champions.”

    Jarrett plans to open a strength and agility center in Heber, Utah, where he lives with his wife and children, the youngest of which will be entering eighth grade; his oldest will be a freshman in high school. As with any change, he said he looked forward to what the opportunity might bring and remaining close to his family. Yet looking back, Jarrett said he’d miss the small daily aspects of the sporting life.

    “It’s the everyday victory I’ll miss,” Jarrett said. “I’m psyched to see the work that the athletes are putting in. The work that the coaching staff are putting in to see those everyday victories — those personal best, in testing, first time getting Continental Cup points, or first time getting World Cup points, or a World Cup podium. You can say the hardware is why you do it for sure, but I will miss is the everyday camaraderie and training.”

    U.S. NoCo Moving Forward

    Demong said the program remains stable heading into an Olympic season; Jarrett had been discussing a transition for the past several seasons.

    “It had been something that has been on my radar for awhile and DJ certainly communicated early enough for me to to start planning, and quite honestly, we do have a good safety net,” he said.

    U.S. Nordic Combined Assistant Coach Martin Bayer will step into the role of head coach. Bayer hails from the Czech Republic and began coaching domestically in the U.S. in 2000. He is currently based in Planica, Slovenia.

    Demong said Bayer is entering this position with the institutional knowledge to make the coaching change seamless.

    “Martin has worked his way up through the club system to the development team coach,” he said. “He has basically coached everybody onto the national team with the exception of Bryan, who is just a little bit older. So he has already a great relationship with all the athletes that are on the team. He knows all the athletes in the pipeline. …  He knows the environment and he is familiar with how we operate, and there is a level of trust both from my end and with the athletes.”

    Nick Huber will remain the program’s head ski-jumping coach. On the cross-country side of the sport, former U.S. national-team biathlete Jeremy Teela is advising the team. “He has agreed to come in and help us with domestic cross-country coaching and plan writing,” Demong said.

    Jon Schafer, who had been U.S. Nordic Combined’s high-performance director for the last year, has also stepped down.

    “Jon is a great and a good friend and very very exceptional high-level strategic thinker,” Demong said. “I think our organization is not at the point right now where we can take advantage of his talents and capacities fully, and quite honestly, we just need more boots on the ground. At this point, we are not going to fill that position. He has, however, written us a very detailed plan that we will be using as a road map going forward. It is a living document. For us, it is like everything from recruitment to medals and everything in between as it relates to coaches, education, and national-training centers.”

    A business executive, Schafer brought management experience to USA Nordic, and on the sporting side, he was previously an elite-level rower and coach.

    “My decision to step down was a very difficult one and one that I most certainly did not take lightly,” Shafer wrote in an email. “I loved working with the athletes and even after my departure, I am still very concerned about their success. It can be very difficult working in an environment of highly constrained resources, in particular with almost no support from USSA.

    “Every position or idea simply cannot be funded and every shot has to be a kill,” he continued. “People are going to disagree about the best ways to spend highly limited funds and the tighter the budget, the harder it is to balance all of the different agendas. The organization has a lot of operational needs and the executive director and a few members of the board felt it was more important to have staff selling t-shirts, writing newsletters, marketing copy and other very ‘boots on the ground’ tasks, than a High Performance Director setting strategy and working with coaches and athletes at a higher level. I disagreed with this approach and since they couldn’t afford both, I tendered my resignation. I think this move is good for everyone, as the overall organizational dynamic proved to be a bit too bruising and tumultuous for an honest, easy-going, soft-spoken Midwest boy like me. I want to be very clear here too — my departure was a smooth and respectful one on both sides and I wish them nothing but the best.”

    Always the jokester, Schafer (FasterSkier’s gear-review guru) added, “One big upside of this change for me too, is I now anticipate having much more time to write about how long you can wear your underwear without washing it. And perhaps teaching my Great Dane to finally respond to his name.”

    The U.S. Nordic Combined team will meet in early May for an all-team camp, which will include all staff and any athlete with a chance of qualifying for the Olympics.

    “It’s really going to be focused on learning more about ourselves, learning more about each other, learning how to communicate better and be tougher,” Demong said of the camp.

  • Demong Back Leading U.S. NoCo as Executive Director of USA Nordic Sport

    Billy Demong jumping to 10th on the normal hill at 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
    Billy Demong, a former U.S. Nordic Combined skier and five-time Olympian, jumping at 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)

    Twenty-two World Cup podiums and five Olympics later, Billy Demong can’t leave what’s in his blood behind; he was born to jump and ski fast. No, Demong, 36, is not announcing a comeback — he retired from international competitions after the 2014/2015 Nordic Combined World Cup season. For a year he stayed away. Post-retirement, Demong worked in marketing for Utah-based Reynolds Cycling. He’s back as executive director of USA Nordic Sport. 

    Let’s turn back the clock for a moment to gain some perspective. Beyond Bill Koch’s 1976 Olympic medal, the U.S. Nordic Combined team remains the only other nordic discipline to win a coveted Olympic medal. In 2010, Demong won an individual gold and was part of the team relay silver in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    There’s a reason to reference past Olympic glory — as part of this narrative, it matters.

    A scant four years after the Vancouver Games and two months after the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), once the primary funder and governing body responsible for U.S. Nordic Combined, dropped most of its funding for nordic combined. It was a seismic event that most insiders had a feeling was coming. Current U.S. Nordic Combined Head Coach Dave Jarrett said at the time, “Based on [USSA’s] study in 2010 that eliminated jumping in other sports, they didn’t think nordic combined was a podium-potential sport for 2018 or 2022.”

    Looking back, Demong voiced his understanding of USSA’s decision.

    “At the end of the day it really comes down to resources,” Demong, now in his full-time role with USA Nordic Sport, said on the phone late last month. “Resource allocation is a tough thing. USSA, they are successful organization — I have watched them grow and develop. But there are a lot of teams and a lot of athletes. There were a lot of hard choices that needed to be made, but I believe in the potential of the athletes we have in the pipeline today and the opportunity for long term sustainable success with strong leadership in both ski jumping and nordic combined.”

    The defunding setback also served up an opportunity for the primary nordic-combined stakeholders to take ownership over the sport’s viability.

    “The community of ski jumping and nordic combined athletes and alumni have historically really leaned on USSA to develop athletes and I think now over the last six-seven years, we have taken a lot of that back onto our community,” Demong explained. “And it’s been successful. I think we have some of the best athletes in the pipeline right now that we have had in a long time in ski jumping. We have some great up and coming talent in nordic combined. And we have a growing base.  Last year we developed a study that indicates about 800 kids put bibs on or participated in a program. So it is a healthy number for a sport that is not big anywhere.”

    The community Demong referenced was not beginning from scratch. An organization named USA Ski Jumping — founded originally by past ski jumping and nordic combined Olympic athletes and coaches including Rex Bell, Jim Holland, Jeff Hastings and Alan Johnson — was already carrying the ski jumping torch. With their help over time, Demong said during the interview, that group worked to grow and develop the scope of the organization. In the spring of 2015 they adopted new bylaws and became committed to assisting the nordic combined community. With the more inclusive snow sport focus, the organization was renamed USA Nordic Sport. And two months ago, Demong was named its Executive Director.

    Back to Demong’s World Cup and Olympic credentials. Demong offers proof that the US can develop nordic combined skiers ranging from kids soaring off small-scale jumps to international champions. He also comes with the cache of Olympic hardware: that can be a draw when soliciting funds and volunteers.

    Demong - Victory! Vancouver 2010 - Nordic Combined Individual Large Hill - Billy Demong, podium
    Billy Demong soaking up his victory atop the podium after winning the individual large hill competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

    The whirlwind of a new job and mission have given Demong a fresh perspective of what endurance means beyond chasing elite skiers around a loop.

    “The first two months here have been exciting,” Demong said of his appointment as Executive Director. “I feel very passionate about what I am doing and there is a lot going on every day. Because this isn’t simply going out and raising some money and spending it. We’ve got ten staff. We’ve got a lot people and we are working together and making sure that everybody’s efforts are moving the sports in the right direction together. That requires a lot of time and energy as well as raising funds and keeping our audience and community engaged.”

    Ski jumping and nordic combined are not completely devoid of USSA’s support and input. Demong noted that USSA is the National Governing Body. Therefore, nordic combined’s FIS representatives are appointed by USSA. And sponsors like LL Bean and Craft — both sponsors of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team — also uniform the nordic combined team. Additionally, team USA’s head nordic combined coach remains Dave Jarrett and his position, as well as a grant for sport development, are funded by USSA. In this fashion, a quasi partnership has emerged between USA Nordic and USSA.

    USA Nordic Sport (USANS) operates much of the day to day business of the U.S. Nordic Combined and U.S. Men’s Ski Jumping teams (women’s ski jumping has been its own entity since 2003, Women’s Ski Jumping USA). It’s also tasked with growing the sports of ski jumping and nordic combined, fielding competitive elite and international teams and building a pipeline of athletes for the future. This last part of the equation, Demong said, is where USANS is placing much of its effort as they support their pre-existing athletes and clubs while building a broader community.

    “We are focusing a lot of our efforts on the operating clubs we have, adding new clubs as opportunities arise, establishing and disseminating best practices to those clubs so they can develop,” Demong said. “They can recruit more athletes, they can engage those athletes and those communities, and develop higher-quality experiences and opportunities. Ultimately, that is really our big goal right now, basically one team, one community, where all of our nordic combined and ski jumping clubs, and athletes, coaches and parents feel like they are part of something bigger. And athletically, we are really focused upon recruit, retain, and engage.”

    “That is really our big goal right now, basically one team, one community.” — Billy Demong, USA Nordic Sport’s executive director

    Specifically, Demong said that USANS has a detailed plan to execute the mission. They can assist clubs with building low-tech jumps made of snow and absent any permanent jumping structure. For more ambitious clubs, USANS will provide building plans, detailed architectural drawings of jumps, and the tools to build and operate a facility.

    “The medium-range goal is to take these small feeder clubs, and if there is local desire and a champion, to help them drive a fundraising effort to build a more sizable hill,” he added. “We would like to be able to help accomplish that, and additionally, provide opportunity and a pathway for athletes that want to take it to the next level.”

    Taking it to the next level could mean higher-end jumping equipment and travel assistance to places like Park City, Utah, that host events for aspiring jumpers and skiers. One Park City-based summertime event is called Springer Tournee — it doubles as the US Large Hill Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Championships. USANS also organizes what they call Virtual Nationals. It’s a low-cost low barrier of entry competition allowing juniors to participate in a nationwide event without leaving their local jumping hill.

    “What we do is we ask the kids and parents to send in videos of their children jumping and then they are broken into classes like U-10 girls, U-12 boys, etc.” Demong said. “Last year, we had a group of judges like Sarah Hendrickson and Clint Jones … that basically allowed the kids to compete in their peer group around the country. So that’s been really effective in getting everybody engaged together.”

    Norwegian national team member Mikko Kokslien took a photo of the U.S. nordic-combined jumping facility in Park City, Utah.
    The U.S. nordic combined and ski jumping hills in Park City, Utah (Photo: Mikko Kokslien)

    Demong said nordic combined has suffered from a lack of record keeping when it came to junior development. He hopes things like Virtual Nationals will help change that dynamic.

    “That has been one of the struggles historically — we have some clubs with quite a few athletes but nobody has really been keeping records,” Demong explained. “Does U-12 usually make to U-16? We know that we have attrition along the pipeline just like any sport, but how can we have less? How can we retain more? How can we have a more complete pipeline from first jump on a 10-meter to a World Cup team?”

    Demong insists the health of jumping and nordic combined are way beyond life-support status. On the contrary, Demong believes his beloved sports are poised for growth. That may, in some part, be attributed to the roughly fifty percent of the population — women — traditionally unable to participate in jumping and nordic combined. Although opportunities to jump internationally are not on par with those afforded to men, 2014 marked the first time women’s ski jumping was an official Olympic sport.

    On the nordic-combined side, Demong mentioned this winter will be the first for women’s international nordic-combined competitions without an age limit.

    “In the past couple years, when women’s nordic-combined has been brought online, it has been age limited to mostly junior competitions, and now all of sudden there is going to be open class, senior-level events. It will not be in PyeongChang [South Korea for the 2018 Olympics], but certainly I think it is tracking to be in Beijing [in 2022]. And so that is something Dave Jarrett has definitely been a proponent of at the FIS level and is also preparing to gear up to develop a national-team program for that as well.”

    With new ventures moving forward, Demong also mentioned the links cross-country skiing and nordic jumping sports share. In his eyes, they each possess attributes that benefit the other.

    “Cross country is an amazing sport. It’s so difficult, it teaches so much discipline and perseverance and work ethic, and a host of other core values. They obviously have the same heritage,” he said. “And there is a whole other set of values ski jumping offers for personal growth, like courage: the ability to stand on top of the in-run, even to stand on top of the 40-meter [hill] and look down as a good skier and know that if you let go to the bar there is no backing out. It is a skill set unto itself. If I had one vision for our nordic communities, it is that we will continue to work together to provide as many participants as possible the opportunity to experience all that the nordic sports have to offer… I think there is a tremendous opportunity there … to add some additional skills to the cross country side by participating at whatever level in some ski jumping activity and vice versa.”