After a great showing in their first competition, Men’s Nordic Combined was able to have three top 25 finishers in the Individual Large Hill/10km event on Tuesday at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Centre.

Jared Shumate led the pack, as he was able to post another top 20 finish, placing 17^th overall. On the Large Hill, Shumate placed 19^th overall with a 127.5 meter jump, putting him +2:34 behind the leader to start the 10km. He then climbed to his 17^th overall finish with a total time of 26:24.5.

“I’m very psyched to have gotten another top twenty, I can’t be upset about that,” said Shumate. “I fought hard during every second of that race, I but lost a couple spots in the last lap. Overall, I thought I skied well, and placing seventeenth was a step up from the first day. I usually struggle a little bit more on the large hill, so I was happy to put a good jump down and start the race in the top twenty.”

Ben Loomis was close behind, as he carded yet another top 20 finish as well, placing 19^th overall. This is a new personal best at the Olympic Winter Games for Loomis in the Large Hill/10km, after finishing 40^th overall in PyeongChang 2018. After posting a 129.0 meter jump on the hill, Loomis started the 10km in 17^th, +2:26 behind the leader. He then finished the 10km race with a course time of 26:51.2 for a 19^th place finish.

“I’m happy with how today went, overall it was just a solid day. Result wise, I placed seventeenth again after jumping, just like the normal hill,” said Loomis. “However, I was happier with the jump that I put down today. Looking forward to the team event on Thursday, I’m very excited. We’re in a pretty good spot as a team, everyone is skiing well and having some great jumps.”

Taylor Fletcher was then able to place 23^rd overall, his second best overall finish at the Olympic Winter Games in this event, as he finished 20^th overall in Sochi 2014. After his jump on the Large Hill, Fletcher found himself in 35^th with a 117.0 meter jump, +3:54 behind the leader to start the 10km. Fletcher was then able to vault himself to a 23^rd overall finish, as he finished the race with a time of 25:42.7.

“I’ve been one of the strongest skiers on this circuit for a while, and to have a race like that was a lot of fun,” said Fletcher. “It’s one thing to race fast from the front, but to be able to come through groups on the course and drop them is a good feeling.”

Jasper Good then achieved an Olympic Winter Games personal best of his own, as he was able to finish 34^th overall, after finishing the Large Hill/10km in 41^st at PyeongChang 2018. On the hill, Good was able to post a 115.5 meter jump, placing him in 36^th and +4:00 behind the leader in the 10km. He then finished the course in 27:32.9 to card a 24th overall finish.

“I think that the race went pretty well, racing at this elevation is a great help for me. Overall, it just felt like a better day and the team did great,” said Good. “I’m very psyched about my personal best at the Olympics in this event, and I’m also very proud to be representing the U.S. Army in this Olympics as well.”

Men’s Nordic Combined will be back in action on Thursday, February 17^th, as they will compete in the Team Large Hill/4x5km event. Check below to see how you can watch and support USA Nordic as they continue at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Results

Large Hill/10km

How to Watch – Men’s Nordic Combined Schedule

Thursday, February 17^th
2:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Team Large Hill – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 2:00pm EST on NBC

6:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Team 4×5 10km – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 3:30pm EST on NBC

Women’s Ski Jumping
Women’s Ski Jumping has one medal event at the 2022 Olympics: the Individual Normal Hill competition. The event will be two rounds. Both the first and final rounds are scheduled for Saturday, February 5.

Men’s Ski Jumping
Men’s Ski Jumping’s action-packed schedule kicks off Saturday, February 5 with the first of three medal events, the Individual Normal Hill competition, followed by the final round on Sunday, February 6. Friday, February 11 hosts the Individual Large Hill, with the final round taking place the following day. Team Ski Jumping will take place on Monday, February 14.

Men’s Nordic Combined
Men’s Nordic Combined has an action-packed schedule at the 2022 Games. The first of three medal events kick off on Wednesday, February 9, with the Individual Gunderson Normal Hill/10km competition, followed by the Individual Gunderson Large Hill/10km on Tuesday, February 15. The final event –Team Gunderson Large Hill/4x5km – is scheduled for Thursday, February 17.

How to Watch

All Times Eastern Standard Time

Saturday, February 5^th
12:15am EST – Men’s Ski Jumping Normal Hill Qualification – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock

4:45am EST – Women’s Ski Jumping Normal Hill Final – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 5:15pm EST on NBC

Sunday, February 6^th
5:00am EST – Men’s Ski Jumping Normal Hill Final – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Primetime: 7:00pm EST on NBC

Wednesday, February 9^th
2:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Individual Normal Hill – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 2:30pm EST on NBC

6:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Individual 10km – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 2:30pm EST on NBC

Friday, February 11th
4:45am EST – Men’s Ski Jumping Large Hill Qualification – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Primetime: 8:00pm EST on NBC

Saturday, February 12th
5:00am EST – Men’s Ski Jumping Large Hill Final – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Primetime: TBD

Monday, February 14th
5:00am EST – Men’s Ski Jumping Team Large Hill – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 2:00pm EST on NBC

Tuesday, February 15th
2:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Individual Large Hill – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 2:00pm EST on NBC

6:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Individual 10km – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 3:45pm EST on NBC

Thursday, February 17th
2:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Team Large Hill – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 2:00pm EST on NBC

6:00am EST – Men’s Nordic Combined Team 4×5 10km – Zhangjiakou, China

• Live: Steaming on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Sports App
• Live: Streaming on Peacock
• Daytime: 3:30pm EST on NBC

Athletes Competing in 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games

Women’s Ski Jumping – Anna Hoffmann

Men’s Ski Jumping – Kevin Bickner, Casey Larson, Patrick Gasienica, Decker Dean

Men’s Nordic Combined – Taylor Fletcher, Ben Loomis, Jared Shumate, Stephen Schumann, Jasper Good

Press Release

USA NORDIC ANNOUNCES TEAM NOMINATIONS
Group of 45 nordic combined and ski jumping athletes earn spots

USA Nordic has nominated 45 American athletes to its 2021-22 national and junior nordic combined and ski jumping teams. Athletes achieved the nominations based on selection criteria. They will have the option of being a part of the 2021-22 U.S. Nordic Combined or U.S. Ski Jumping Team.

The nominations were made after the conclusion of the 2021 competition season. Athletes are now in training for the upcoming summer and winter seasons.

“Our team nominations include a wide range of veterans across our national teams, but some great up-and-coming athletes on the junior teams,” said USA Nordic Sport Director Jed Hinkley. “It was especially challenging this year with ever-changing schedule changes and cancelations.”

Athletes will have the option of accepting nominations prior to the 2021-22 season. The final teams for the season will be named this fall. With the Olympics coming up next winter in Beijing, athletes will be striving to earn positions on Team USA. Those nominations and team naming will be announced just prior to the Olympics.

2021-22 U.S. NORDIC COMBINED SKI TEAM
Men’s National Team
Grant Andrews, 23, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Taylor Fletcher, 30, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Jasper Good, 24, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Ben Loomis, 22, Eau Claire, Wis., Flying Eagles Ski Club
Niklas Malacinski, 17, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Evan Nichols, 17, Lyme, N.H., Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council
Jared Shumate, 22, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Stephen Schumann, 21, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard

Women’s National Team
Tess Arnone, 18, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Alexa Brabec, 16, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Annika Malacinski, 19, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Tara Geraghty-Moats, 28, W. Fairlee, Vt., Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club

2021-22 U.S. SKI JUMPING TEAM
Men’s National Team
Erik Belshaw, 16, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Kevin Bickner, 24 Wauconda, Ill., Norge Ski Club
Decker Dean, 20, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Patrick Gasienica, 22, Spring Grove, Ill., Norge Ski Club
Casey Larson, 22, Barrington, Ill., Norge Ski Club
Andrew Urlaub, 20, Eau Claire, Wis., Flying Eagles Ski Club

Canadian Athletes Training with USA Nordic
Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes
Matthew Soukup

Women’s National Team
Annika Belshaw, 18, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Jillian Highfill, 17, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Anna Hoffmann, 20, Madison, Wis., Blackhawk Ski Club
Paige Jones, 18, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Cara Larson, 20, Barrington, Ill., Norge Ski Club
Nina Lussi, 27, Lake Placid, N.Y., New York Ski Education Foundation
Samantha Macuga, 20, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Logan Sankey, 22, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

2021-22 U.S. NORDIC COMBINED SKI TEAM – JUNIOR TEAM
Men’s Junior Team
Carter Brubaker, 17, Anchorage, Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage
Tate Frantz, 16, Lake Placid, New York Ski Education Foundation
Gunnar Gilbertson, 18, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Henry Johnstone, 20, Concord, Mass. Andover Outing Club
Aidan Ripp, 20, Cloquet, Minn., Cloquet Ski Club
Zach Selzman, 16, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Caleb Zuckerman, 15, Norwich, Vt., Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council

Women’s Junior Team
Aspen Bennett-Manke, 15, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Charlotte Ripp, 16, Cloquet, Minn., Cloquet Ski Club

2021-22 U.S. SKI JUMPING TEAM – JUNIOR TEAM
Men’s Junior Team
Jason Colby, 15, Steamboat Springs, Colo., Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Hunter Gibson, 20, Woodstock, Ill., Norge Ski Club
Stewart Gundry, 15, Eau Claire, Wis., Flying Eagles Ski Club
Shane Kocher, 17, Algonquin, Ill., Norge Ski Club
Landon Lee, 18, Eau Claire, Wis., Flying Eagles Ski Club

Women’s Junior Team
Rachael Haerter, 16, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Josie Johnson, 14, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Elise Loescher, 18, Burlington, Vt., New York Ski Education Foundation
Macey Olden, 16, Park City, Utah, Park City Ski & Snowboard
Adeline Swanson, 15, Woodbury, Minn., St. Paul Ski Club

About USA Nordic
USA Nordic is the national leadership organization for nordic combined and ski jumping in the United States, providing support and guidance to the nations’ clubs and coaches while overseeing the national elite teams. To stay connected, visit www.usanordic.org.

This year was a big year for women’s Nordic combined racing, not in the way 2020 was a “big year”, but in a record-breaking, moving forward to better things kind of way. For those of you who don’t follow Nordic combined, here’s what you need to know: Competitions involve ski jumping, in which athletes are scored based on style and distance, and later in the day, they compete in a pursuit-start skate race based on their performance on the jumps. It is also the last sport at the Olympics to be contested only by men. 

The 2020/21 season marked the first year of a World Cup circuit for women’s Nordic combined racing. Enter Tara Geraghty-Moats, who won the inaugural FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Ramsau, Austria and took home the Overall Crystal Globe for the season.

Geraghty-Moats grew up in West Fairlee, Vermont and has been competing on the Ski Jumping World Cup circuit since 2014. As FIS has taken steps towards gender equality in the sport of Nordic Combined, Geraghty-Moats has been at the forefront. When the Continental Cup was established in the 2018/19 season Geraghty-Moats placed first in eleven out of the twelve competitions that year. In 2019/20, she took home the gold in every single Continental Cup race. Heading into 2020/21 with the first World Cup circuit, Geraghty-Moats looked to be the strong favorite.

“This was our first ever season of women’s Nordic combined World Cup and I was very excited about it,” said Geraghty-Moats, “going into the season I knew that there was a possibility of cancellation but I was really hoping for the best, trying to stay optimistic.”

In Ramsau for the first-ever women’s World Cup event, Geraghty-Moats was in fifth after the ski jumping leg, having a 39-second deficit to make up on her competitor, Gyda Westvold Hansen of Norway. Geraghty-Moats did just that over the 5k skate, finishing 1.5 seconds ahead of the Norwegian and becoming the first women to be awarded World Cup gold in the sport’s history. The two other World Cup competitions scheduled for the season were canceled due to COVID, but World Championships went on as planned in Oberstdorf, Germany.

In Oberstdorf, Geraghty-Moats came in fifth after starting the cross-country portion in 18th position starting 2:13 minutes behind the leader. On Instagram, Geraghty-Moats wrote, “I am incredibly proud I got 5th at the World Championships. I felt like I used the opportunity and support I had to its fullest potential… Complications this season meant I was not able to ski jump as much as I needed to. I was not a good enough ski jumper to overcome only having 205 jumps since March 2020. I did the best I could and that is all I can ask of myself.”

 At the conclusion of a historic season, Geraghty-Moats became the first woman to take home the FIS Nordic Combined Overall crystal globe. To this achievement, Geraghty-Moats wrote, “We did what we could with what we had. We made history and came home with a crystal globe. We didn’t have a lot but we had each other. I’m proud of this team. These girls are tough, I’m honored to have them as my teammates.”

Speaking to Geraghty-Moats after the season’s end she reflected on this achievement by saying, “It’s pretty wild, it’s a huge honor. After I was awarded [the globe] I kind of woke up and had to pinch myself that I was the first-ever globe winner. I’m really proud that all my hard work paid off and not only that I helped the sport move forward but that I was able to get the first overall.”

Despite the progress towards parity in the sport, many challenges still remain. The men’s Nordic combined World Cup schedule this season included 13 venues and competitions (six of which were cancelled due to COVID), whereas the women’s schedule only included four, three of which were cancelled.

Geraghty-Moats said, “In the spring (2020) we thought there would be about eight World Cups, four weekends, which although that isn’t too much we were excited for the first year of the World Cup. We didn’t know how many were going to get cancelled but it was going to be a good start. And then going through the season more and more started getting cancelled and it was pretty hard to keep our motivation.” 

On the topic of parity, Geraghty-Moats acknowledged that this season was a big step forward, “it wasn’t as big as we wanted it to be because there weren’t that many World Cups but it is a huge step towards being included in the Olympics, we had our World Championships which was huge and a very successful competition but it wasn’t as big a year as we had hoped for,” said Geraghty-Moats. Even after an inaugural World Cup season, women’s Nordic combined will not be included in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. 

“I would really encourage people to follow women’s Nordic combined, take an interest in it and support the female Nordic combined athletes who are trying to make waves in the sport,” said Geraghty-Moats. “I guess I would challenge everyone… to engage in our story and be an active part of moving this sport forward because at the end of the day, sport is a business and we need more fans and more attention to move this forward. And I think that is starting to happen, especially after the World Championships, but the more involvement we can have, the better for gender equality in the sport and better for the ski community as a whole.” 

Nordic combined fans can expect to see more of Tara Geraghty-Moats as she continues to push the boundaries of the sport and compete at the highest level. “It will be a season I tell my grandkids about,” Geraghty-Moats said, “I got the overall in the middle of a pandemic in the first-ever season of women’s Nordic combined. Like you can’t even say that without going like, wow, what?! There is only forward, only upward to go for women’s Nordic combined and I’m really excited to see the progress we will make in the coming years.” 

HISTORIC WIN FOR GERAGHTY-MOATS

Four USA Nordic women take part in debut women’s World Cup

RAMSAU, Austria (Dec. 18, 2020) – American Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, Vt.) made history Friday, skiing to a hard-fought victory by just 1.5 seconds in the first ever FIS Nordic Combined World Cup for women in an idyllic mountain setting at Ramsau am Dachstein. It was an emotional win for the 27-year-old who has been a pioneer in the movement to bring women’s  nordic combined to the Olympics.

Geraghty-Moats finished sixth in the ski jumping segment of the nordic combined competition, putting her 39 seconds behind Westvold-Hansen to start the 5k cross country race. Geraghty-Moats charged hard from the start, catching the Norwegian near the end of the first of two laps on a hill. Westvold-Hansen fought back to ski even before Geraghty-Moats pulled away again on a hill to hold on for a victory.

The American is the two-time defending champion in the Continental Cup and came into the race a favorite. The women’s World Cup debut had been scheduled in early December at Lillehammer, Norway, but was postponed.

USA Nordic fielded a team of four athletes for the World Cup debut. Annika Malacinski (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) finished 28th with teammates Alexa Brabec and Tess Arnone (both Steamboat Springs, Colo.) 29th and 30th.

An emotional Geraghty-Moats stood atop the winner’s podium, flanked by athletes from Norway and Japan. “Today here in Ramsau was a dream come true,” said Geraghty-Moats. “It was something I’ve dreamed about since I was 10 years old – before it was even a possibility.

“Just a huge thanks to my team and FIS for finally inviting the women to the big leagues.”

There were many unknowns for athletes coming into the first event of the season after COVID-19 wreaked havoc on training and competition schedules.

“Coming into this competition I was really uncertain of myself because I hadn’t put a bib on in 10 months,” said Geraghty-Moats.  “And I had only 10% of my ski jumping training I had hoped to have. But all day long I just kept telling myself that I could do it – every step at a time.”

Sports organizations including the International Ski Federation and USA Nordic have been working actively to bring women’s nordic combined into the Olympics. It is the only remaining Olympic event where women do not compete. The historic debut of a FIS Nordic Combined World Cup will be followed this February 27 with the first ever World Championship for women at the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany.

Over the past two seasons, women from 17 nations have scored points in the FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup tour. Nine nations were represented in the field of 32 in Ramsau.

Geraghty-Moats becomes the first American nordic combined skier in nearly nine years to win a World Cup. The last victory went to Bryan Fletcher, who won the prestigious Holmenkollen World Cup in Oslo, Norway in March, 2012.

On-demand replay of both the ski jumping and cross country segments of the nordic combined World Cup are available on Peacock TV in the USA.

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup – Women

Official Results

PARK CITY, Utah November 12, 2019 – International nordic combined action is coming back to Park City, Utah December 13-15. The competitions will take place between two venues, the ski jumping portion will take place at the Utah Olympic Park and the cross-country races will be contested at Soldier Hollow.

A star-studded cast will be descending upon Park City for the Continental Cup. Headlining this lineup is a lot of American talent, two athletes in particular made their mark in last year’s event. Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, VT) will be looking to keep her streak alive. Last year Geraghty-Moats won all ten Continental Cups she competed in and is currently the best women’s nordic combined skier in the world. Men’s team veteran Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) will look to defend his home turf in the men’s event. Last year Fletcher finished 4th and 1st in this event proving his dominance in the cross country portion.

This year USA Nordic is putting an emphasis on the spectator experience. The highlight of the weekend will be Saturday nights event at the Utah Olympic Park. The outrun of the ski jump will be filled with vendors, food trucks, beverages, firepits, and live music. The doors will open at 5:00 pm so bring your friends and family up to the Utah Olympic Park for a night to remember below the ski jumps.

The time schedule for the entire weekend is below. Come cheer on our athletes and give them a home-field advantage.

The event will also be live streamed on USA Nordic TV for those who cannot attend in person.

Park City Continental Cup Schedule

Friday, December 13

9:00-11:00 a.m. Ski jumping (Utah Olympic Park)

2:00-3:30 p.m. Cross country (Soldier Hollow)

Saturday, December 14 

2:00-3:30 p.m. Cross Country (Mass Start) (Soldier Hollow)

6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Ski Jumping (Utah Olympic Park)

Sunday, December 15

9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Ski Jumping (Utah Olympic Park)

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Cross Country (Soldier Hollow)

Press Release

Tara Geraghty-Moats (USA) and Akito Watabe (JPN) were the winners of the first individual event of the Summer Grand Prix 2019. The American won by a large margin of +1:48.3, while Watabe distanced Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT) by 1.5 seconds. Yoshito Watabe completed the podium on the men’s side, Stefaniya Nadymova (RUS) and Jenny Nowak (GER) claimed the podium positions for the women.

Difficult wind conditions made ski jumping in Oberwiesenthal very difficult today. Both for the men and for the women, the jumping rounds had to be cancelled and the PCR was used.

On Friday, Tara Geraghty-Moats (USA) had shown a jump of 98 metres and a point total of 116.5 points put her on top of the result list with an advantage of 17 seconds at the start. The American was be followed by strong Russian Stefaniya Nadymova, who jumped to 96 metres. Gyda Westvold Hansen (NOR) was third with 90.5 metres (101.6 p.) and started her race at a respectful distance of one minute behind Geraghty-Moats.

Behind Westvold Hansen, the field was tightly packed with Annika Sieff (ITA) starting at +1:09, Marte Leinan Lund followed at +1:12, Veronica Gianmoena (ITA) at +1:20 and Jenny Nowak (GER) and Annalena Slamik (AUT) started their races at +1:43 and +1:47.

Geraghty-Moats skied a lonely race at the top, overlapping many of the competitors on the way to the finish. At half-time point, her advantage had already grown to almost a minute and the dominator or the Women’s Nordic Combined circuit extended her lead to one minute and 48 seconds in the end. With her result, Geraghty-Moats set the best jump and the best cross-country time of 15:49.4, proving once more she is the the most complete female Nordic Combined athlete in the world right now.

Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova impressed on the jumping hill and skied fast enough to defend the second place by almost a minute in the end. German Jenny Nowak delighted the audience with a courageous race and skied to the podium from position seven. She finished +2:34.4 after Geraghty-Moats. The second-fastest woman on track was Anastasia Gocharova, who skied from position 16 to a final sixth rank.

Final Results Women

On the men’s side, the Japanese team struck back with a vengeance after not being on start in the Mixed Team event yesterday. Young Japanese Ryota Yamamoto was the best on the jumping hill with a great jump of 105 metres. 136.5 points put him in the lead of the race by 10 seconds. Yamamoto’s closest pursuers were his teammates, the brothers Watabe. Akito claimed the second place with 103 metres (134 p.), Yoshito showed 99 metres (128.3 p.) Translated into delays at the start line, this meant +0:10 seconds for Akito and +0:33 seconds for Yoshito.

Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT) ranked fourth with +0:46, Terence Weber (GER) and Christian Deuschl (AUT) shared the fifth place and took up their races at +0:52 respectively.

The race was a tactical affair that had Akito and Yoshito Watabe and Franz-Josef Rehrl working very well together to keep their advantage. At the beginning, Ryota Yamamoto skied together with the three leaders but had to let go around the 3.5 km point of the race. Behind the leading trio, fast German Vinzenz Geiger worked his way to the front and had closed the gap to 14.2 seconds at the half-way point of the race. After that, he ran out of steam and finally finished on position 17 only.

After his Mixed Team victory yesterday, Samuel Costa was in impressive shape again and appeared behind the three leaders and together with Martin Fritz and Johannes Lamparter and several other athletes, a big group chased the brothers Watabe and Franz-Josef Rehrl going out on the last lap.

In the end, the leaders proved too strong and 2017/18 overall World Cup winner Akito Watabe rewarded himself with a victory, while Franz-Josef Rehrl took the second place and Yoshito Watabe surprised with position three. Martin Fritz had the best end of big pursuing group and finished fourth, Samuel Costa was fifth and Johannes Lamparter sixth, between +21.2 and +29.4 behind the winner.

Final Results Men

As I flagged Josie Johnson and Augie Roepke at midnight on the longest day of the year, a smile came to my face, and I let out a big hoot. I have been around Ski Jumping for over 30 years, but I had never experienced what I was experiencing at that moment: the 2^nd 12-hour jump-a-thon on the Summer Solstice. The previous year’s event was the impetus for this year’s USA Nordic Alaska Junior Flyer Camp, and after taking part, I hope that it becomes an annual tradition like so many others in the Ski Jumping world.

When Karen Compton, Adam Loomis, and I began planning the camp we were excited, but unsure as to whether many non-Alaska athletes would attend. I thought if we got five athletes from the lower 48, I would be happy.  Then we opened registration, and in the first two weeks seven athletes from Park City and New Hampshire had signed up…and the registrations just kept rolling in until we had reached 16 athletes from outside of Alaska and 42 athletes all together.  I was certainly not expecting this or to have to close registration because we did not have enough t-shirts and camp packets.  If I am honest, I was also a little worried.  Do we have enough coaches? How are we going to transport all these kids to the off-hill activities? Is the age and ability gap too big? Do I have enough wax and water bottles? These and many other fears were running through my head as I woke up at 4:30 am the first day of the camp, partly from jet lag and partly from fear that I had forgotten something big.

There were some things I forgot, and not everything ran perfectly, but we did what Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined coaches, athletes, and families do: we figured it out, and all chipped in to make the camp a resounding success.  Alaska parents opened their homes up to the out-of-state families. Karen Compton lead hikes for parents who wanted to participate and provided a resource sheet and map for activities all over Anchorage. Adam Loomis and Chris Lamb made a last minute Costco trip to stock up on supplies for the larger than expected group in addition to the phenomenal coaching and leadership they exhibited throughout the camp. Parents helped drive to the Portage Pass hike so that we could take in an amazing glacier view.  The hike ended up having nearly 60 participants in 8 cars, including two 12-passenger vans. Finally, during the culmination of the camp- the jump-a-thon, club members showed up with delicious food and extra camping gear for the out-of-towners, as JR kept the burgers and hot dogs coming from the grill, and Jeanne kept the food table organized and stocked.  Everyone at the camp made some sort of contribution, and the tunes echoed off the jumps keeping the energy level high until well beyond midnight, while Cooper Dodds snapped photo after photo for Outside Magazine.

Thank you to all that helped make the camp and the jump-a-thon a huge success, and I recognize that there are many more people that I should have thanked by name ( oh, Jessica Vetsch for Reuben and Chris’ amazing birthday cake).  In a sport where we cherish community and tradition, I think we established a little of each during the camp and I hope both will carry on for many years to come.

Jed grew up in Andover, New Hampshire, where both of his parents were teachers at Proctor Academy. Jed began skiing at the age of three and competing at the age of five. Eventually, Jed’s main sport became Nordic Combined and he spent seven years on the U.S. National Team. After teaching high school, Jed went back to school to get his Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC. He is currently the Sport Development Director for USA Nordic.

Click the image to enlarge.

In November 2016, FIS published its “Nordic Combined Ladies’ Strategy Document” outlining a plan presented by the Nordic Combined Committee. The incremental plan began at the development level, encouraging and supporting girls to become elite level NoCo athletes, then creating the opportunity for international competition on an elite stage. Girls were first able to compete in FIS Youth World Cup events in 2014 and over the subsequent two years, participation increased.

In accordance with the plan, NoCo Ladies participated in the 2019 Junior World Championships in Lahti, Finland – the U.S. entered two athletes, Tess Arnone, and Annika Malacinski, both of Steamboat Springs, CO. 

At this year’s spring meeting of the Nordic Combined Committee, a draft of the first ever women’s Nordic Combined FIS World Cup schedule was presented and approved for the 2020/2021 season – a major breakthrough for the sport.

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“We are thrilled to present the first draft of a Nordic Combined Women’s World Cup calendar,” race director Lasse Ottesen told FIS. “This is on schedule according to our strategy document and we are looking forward to presenting our women to the world.”

The first competition is slated to be held in December 2020 in Lillehammer, Norway. While the Period II venue(s) remain undecided, the calendar also includes competitions in Otepää, Estonia and Schonach, Germany, as well as the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany at the end of February.

The Nordic Combined Committee also approved the inclusion of a mixed team relay during the World Junior Ski Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany.

“The Mixed Team is the next step in the Nordic Combined development,” said Ottesen. “We have seen great development with the Nordic Combined Ladies the last years and we are very excited to introduce the Mixed Team already this summer and then as a medal event at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Oberwiesenthal (GER). The Mixed Team will give more nations the chance to enter a team in the future.”

Women’s Nordic Combined did not receive a bid for inclusion at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, but it is likely that FIS will submit another bid for 2026.

“Nordic combined, and women’s in particular, still need to be developed further in terms of universality [the number of countries with Olympic-level athletes], in terms of the level of the athletes,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell told NBC after the decision was made in July 2018.

Twenty-eight-year-old Taylor Fletcher has been nordic skiing and ski jumping nearly his entire life. He grew up training and competing in Steamboat Springs, Colo. He has been racing World Cups since 2010 and is a three time Olympian.

The 2018/2019 season has been his best yet. Fletcher began his season with two Continental Cup victories, one in each of his “hometowns”, Steamboat Springs and Park City, Utah.

He has also brought a renewed spirit to his skiing and jumping. His ski times on the World Cup are blistering, with top-five and fastest times of day within reach. He posted two top-20 World Cup results in January.

This past October, Fletcher’s father Tim passed away after a hard fought battle with ALS. Family remains important to Fletcher. His father’s passing affected him both mentally and physically but he is able to find strength from his loss and is able to transfer his feelings into his skiing and jumping.

At the conclusion of an Olympic cycle in 2018, the U.S. Nordic Combined Team lost several athletes to retirement — most notably his bother Bryan. Team veterans Ben Berend and Adam Loomis also moved on from the sport. These vacancies made room for a few younger racers like Grant Andrews and Jared Shumate.

FasterSkier connected with Fletcher in late January for an interview to discuss his season, his father’s passing, and the new team dynamic.

FasterSkier: You started the season with wins in the two places you call “home”, how did that feel?

Taylor Fletcher: Competing at home is always a dream. 2006 was the last time I had a international competition in Steamboat. It was a great honor to compete there after my father passed away and even better to honor him with a victory and second place.

FS: How have you been processing the loss of your father and how has losing him impacted your training and racing?

TF: It’s been tough, after he passed I was actually in Slovenia for a Grand Prix and he passed the day after my competition there. One of his last wishes was to have me stay over and continue training and continue progressing over here. But, emotionally, physically and mentally there was no chance that I could do that. And so it was important for me to go home to be able to regroup, refresh, kind of focus again and that was a good opportunity for me to do that. Every single one of my flights was delayed, I missed two of my flights because of those delays, so it was a challenging day.

He wants me to continue skiing, he wants me to ski as long as I can and that’s my goal, to honor that. He’s definitely a big motivator for me, he’s a big reason why I’ve had a better season than the last couple of years. It’s because I have his thoughts and the motivation from him, so that’s been great.

But, the day after he passed, I tried to go out and do some training sessions and there was no chance that I could train at all. I tried to do an intensity sessions and about a quarter of the way through it, I stopped and I just looked at myself and I was like “what am I doing?”.

There comes that time for everyone, luckily mine hit me at a good spot and everything surrounding his passing was exactly what we were hoping for, it was super peaceful. I got to talk to him, or I was telling him some stories and he was actively listening and heard everything.

It was funny, I was actually on a ski resort in Slovenia here and we knew that it was coming time, that it might be a day, or it might be a week, we didn’t really know. It was about five minutes after I got back from the resort that I was told give him a call to say my final words and it was about five minutes after I hung up the phone that he passed. He was definitely waiting for me to talk to him. I know Bryan had talked to him as well.

FS: A few of your teammates retired at the end of last season and the USA Nordic gained a few new guys, how has that been? How is the team dynamic this year?”

TF: Losing Bryan [Fletcher], Adam [Loomis], and Ben [Berend] was a big blow to our team as we already have a small team. Having a big team is nice as they all want to succeed and it helps motivate you through the tough times. But unfortunately there is always a time when someone has to call it and unfortunately that happened on the same year. The team dynamic is great, its a young group of guys that want the best and push each other to be the best!

FS: Do you miss competing with your brother?

TF: Always, yeah. We pushed each other on a regular basis and that’s definitely different. But at the same time, it’s a little bit nice because we always seemed to bicker with each other when we were traveling. He always wanted to give me as much advice as possible, which was great. But now I have the free reign to do what I want and not have his input all the time. Don’t get me wrong, I really wish Bryan was still skiing and I wish Adam [Loomis] and Ben [Berend]were still skiing.

FS: What were your goals going into this season?

TF: It’s solely focused on World Championships, getting goals along the way, scoring points every weekend, jumping better and racing fast and being one of the fastest racers all year. And, so far, I feel like my goals are in line but I desperately want a World Championship medal of my own, an individual one. I’ve got some work to do, but that can come on the jumping side because I think the cross country side is there.

FS: What about 5 year goal/plan?

TF: Basically, I want to have this year as a year to have as much fun as I possibly can, and make it like those days at Howelsen Hill as part of the [Steamboat Springs] Winter Sports Club. And then I’ll decide from there whether or not I can continue doing that. In reality, we all want to have as much fun as possible and we all know that having fun can breed good results and success. So having this model going forward I think is good for me both mentally and physically and it allows me to do what I want to do and that’s what’s most important.

FS: What has been your favorite moment of the season so far?

TF: I think my first competition jumping in Lillehammer, Norway, I jumped to 16th, which was actually a career tie. But the highlight was having the second longest jump of the whole field. I want to have more days like that for sure, but that was a pretty good day for me, definitely a peak day and those are always hard to come by. But at the same time, I know that I did it once, so I can do it again.

FS: What races are you looking forward to this season?

TF: Seefeld, Austria for World Championships is definitely the one I’m looking forward to the most, good race course, beautiful venue, tons of snow this year. So I just hope I can put it all together on that day and come out successful.

FS: You have had some of the fastest ski times on the World Cup- how does knowing you can kill on the ski course affect your jump prep? Official German shop of Maral Gel – http://maral-gel.com/DE

TF: It’s just one less thing I have to worry about, kind of a Forest Gump quote there. But I can just focus on my jumping and not have to really rely 100% on cross country to get things done. That makes it easy for me, the more I can think about the jumping side, the easier that will get.

Four World Cups remain for Fletcher before World Championships take place in Seefeld, Austria.

Two North Americans posted impressive results at nordic events in Germany and Norway over the last week, with Vermont native Tara Geraghty-Moats racing to first overall in the first-ever Women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix and Quebec’s Alex Harvey placing second, fifth and 10th in three races at the Toppidrettsveka rollerski series.

Geraghty-Moats 1st and 2nd at Inaugural Women’s NoCo Grand Prix

Brand new to nordic combined as well as the jump hill in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Geraghty-Moats took the inaugural women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix by storm this past weekend, placing first and second in two competitions. That tied her for first place in the overall Grand Prix standings, alongside Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova — the defending champion of last winter’s inaugural women’s Nordic Combined Continental Cup.

On Sunday, Geraghty-Moats, 25, of USA Nordic and the New York Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF), handily beat Nadymova and the rest of the 10-woman field after starting the 5-kilometer Gundersen rollerski race in second, four seconds behind Germany’s Jenny Nowak. While Nowak had posted the best jump of 96 meters on Oberwiesenthal’s 106-meter “normal” hill, Geraghty-Moats tied for the second-best-scoring jump (94.5 meters), with Austria’s Lisa Hirner (95 meters). From there, Geraghty-Moats dropped Hirner, Nadymova and Nowak on the first of three laps in the rollerski race and went on to finish in 11:04.8. Nowak ultimately placed third, 1:29.2 behind Geraghty-Moats.

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“I was really satisfied by how my first weekend of being a nordic combined-er went, and I think the patience of waiting to be a nordic combined-er really paid off,” Geraghty-Moats told the International Ski Federation (FIS) after. “I struggled with the jump a little bit the first couple days. I had never jumped this hill before, and I sort of figured it out today so I got to ski a little bit easier than yesterday, but I was also happy that yesterday I was able to have a good fight and ski fast to my potential and end up on the podium.”

On Saturday, the American (who started as a ski jumper, then raced cross-country before taking up biathlon, and finally returned to jumping) placed second to Nadymova, who won the individual 5 k Gundersen in 12:21.4. Geraghty-Moats finished just 3 seconds back after starting the race in fourth, 1:13 minutes behind Nadymova in first. Nowak placed third in that race as well, 50.3 seconds back.

“It was a dream come true to finally be able to compete in women’s Nordic Combined on an international level,” Geraghty-Moats told FIS on Saturday. “I’m using this weekend to learn the level I have to be at to have success in Nordic Combined. I made some mistakes today and learned a lot but I came away with a good result and having had a huge amount of fun competing with small but strong field.”

Eleven women competed in Saturday’s normal hill/5 k.

Results:

Day 1 (ski jumping | final) 

Day 2 (ski jumping | final)

Overall Grand Prix

Harvey on Toppidrettsveka Podium

At the Toppidrettsveka rollerski festival in Norway, Canada’s Alex Harvey raced to second in the 15 k skiathlon last Thursday in Orkdal, missing out on first by just 0.6 seconds to Switzerland’s Roman Furger, who won in 30:43.3. Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger, the reigning Olympic skiathlon champion, finished third, 1.5 seconds back. In a stacked international field of 125 men, Canada’s Evan Palmer-Charrette placed 75th in that race (+2:14.4), Bob Thompson was 84th (+2:32.7), and Scott Hill 89th (+2:52.5).

Heidi Weng beat her cousin Tiril Udnes Weng by 0.7 seconds in the women’s 10 k skiathlon that day, finishing in 22:52.1. Norway swept the top five of the women’s race, with Anne Kjersti Kalvå reaching the podium in third (+1.3), and national-team members Kathrine Harsem and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen placing fourth (+1.4) and fifth (+1.5), respectively, out of 43 women.

In the men’s 24 k classic mass start around Aure/Brekka on Friday, Harvey finished fifth, 19 seconds after Krüger, who won in 59:57.5. Norway’s Hans Christer Holund placed second in that race (+2.6), Norway’s Magnus Stensås was third (+13.0), and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna fourth (+17.1). Also for Canada, Palmer-Charrette finished 61sth (+2:30.9), Hill 78th (+4:02.3), Thompson 86th (+5:40.3), and Maks Zechel 88th (+7:01.4) out of 125.

Heidi Weng repeated in first in the women’s 24 k mass start, finishing in 1:10:02.4 hours, while Tiril Udnes Weng again placed second, 25.4 seconds back, and Jacobsen reached the podium in third (+27.7).

Later on Friday in Aure, Norway’s Sondre Turvoll Fossli topped the men’s freestyle sprint final ahead of four other Norwegians, including Pål Trøan Aune in second and Jan Thomas Jenssen in third, and Switzerland’s Furger in fifth, while Harvey did not qualify for the heats and ended up 37th overall. Palmer-Charrette was once again 61st in qualification, Hill 107th and Thompson 109th out of 121.

In the women’s sprint, Norway’s Mathilde Myhrvold won the final in 2:56.54, 1.05 seconds ahead of Slovenia’s Katja Visnar in second. Heidi Weng placed third in the final (+1.97), ahead of Tiril Weng (+2.64) in fourth, another Norwegian Anna Svendsen in fifth (+2.76), and another Slovenian Alenka Cebasek in sixth (+3.73). 

In the final race of the series, the classic pursuit on Saturday, Harvey started second, 10 seconds behind Furger in first. The Canadian went on to place 10th, 4.2 seconds out of first, in the 15 k race, while Stensås took the win in 37:45.5 after starting seventh. (Furger slipped to 55th and 1:55.5 behind at the finish.) Norway’s Mikael Gunnulfsen rose from eighth to second (+0.7) and France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard made it all the way up to third (+1.7) after starting 15th. 

Palmer-Charrette finished the pursuit in 59th (+2:04.2), Thompson placed 80th (+2:55.2), Hill 87th (+3:41.5), and Zechel 93rd (+3:48.9) out of 105. 

Jacobsen ended the weekend as the women’s 12 k mass start winner, after the entire women’s field (of 33) started at the same time. She crossed the line first in 34:20.8, 0.4 seconds ahead of Heidi Weng in second and 1.2 seconds ahead of Kalvaa in third. 

Results:

Men’s skiathlon | Women’s skiathlon

Men’s mass start | Women’s mass start

Men’s sprint | Women’s sprint

Men’s pursuit | Women’s mass start

Nathaniel Mah, a 22-year-old Canadian, isn’t someone we would normally liken to an endangered species. That’s perhaps the best analogy for Mah, who describes himself as the last remaining nordic combined athlete in Canada. He currently trains in Canmore with the Alberta World Cup Academy and jumps when he can — most often in the U.S. at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) jumping facility in Park City.

That defining characteristic, the last Canadian NoCo skier, hasn’t deterred Mah from his international competition ambitions. He’s been able to weave a tapestry of training opportunities and support to pursue his athletic goals.

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In this Nordic Nation episode, we speak to Mah about how he’s been able to train and compete while Canada’s nordic combined and jumping scene struggles to remain viable. Mah is coached in cross country by Chris Jefferies and Allison Macardle from the Alberta World Cup Academy. Currently, Mah is without an official jumping coach. 

Most pressing for Mah and his constituency of avid ski jumpers is the prospect of Calgary’s ski jumping complex at Canada Olympic Park (COP) shuttering this coming October. WinSport is a nonprofit that owns and operates the COP as well as the Beckie Scott High Performance Training Centre on Haig Glacier and the Bill Warren Training Centre at the Canmore Nordic Centre. According to several news reports, WinSport claims the jumps require a costly upgrade and the $500,000-dollar annual cost to operate is not sustainable. (Read more: March 27 CBC article and March 23 article in Canada’s Global News)

Ski Jumping Canada posted a press release detailing its position on the likely closure of the jumping venue.

Making matters more complex, it appears Calgary is preparing a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. In a study (full report) commissioned by Ski Jumping Canada, data suggest a majority of respondents desire events involving ski jumping to be held specifically in Calgary rather than Vancouver. (It has been reported that Vancouver is a possible ski-jumping venue for a proposed Calgary 2026 Winter Olympic bid.)    

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

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.

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)

When Bryan Fletcher retired from the Nordic Combined World Cup this spring, FasterSkier asked the national-team veteran and two-time Olympian for a workout that is sure to stand the test of time. Here’s what he had to say.  

***

After 11 years on U.S. Nordic Combined’s national team, it’s no wonder many of Bryan Fletcher’s most recent teammates viewed him as the ‘Team Dad’. Along with being an actual father — he has a daughter named Ellery who will be 2 in August — he’s dedicated close to 25 years of his life to NoCo. Food for thought: the average age of his teammates at this year’s Winter Olympics was 23.

So when Fletcher announced that, at age 31, he would be retiring from NoCo this spring, FasterSkier reached out to the veteran for a tried-and-true workout. Fletcher’s response was simple. For him, nothing beats a “good-old-fashioned hill climb.” The experienced skier’s most savvy advice? Take the gondola back down.

“Downhills can be pretty abusive on the knees and your back,” Fletcher explained on the phone. “[This workout] is super-easy way to get long hours in or a good intensity session in, without putting a huge load on the lower body.”

Fletcher’s other favorite part about the workout is its versatility and adaptability (two words all parents should know).

It can be a long, easy distance workout or an interval one depending on the effort you choose to climb back up. For an easy workout, hike up at a Level 1 effort and take the gondola back down. For an intensity session, hike/bound up at a Level 3 effort and take the gondola back down.

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“I chose this workout because I think it’s well-suited to all nordic athletes,” Fletcher said. “It really has a little bit of everything that a nordic athlete should be focusing on in terms of their endurance and also their hiking and bounding abilities.”

The Workout: Easy Endurance or Level 3/Steady State Intensity

Terrain: Alpine hill (preferably with a Gondola to ride down)

Warmup: 15-20 minutes easy

• If doing intensity, Fletcher recommends at least one “pickup” at a steady state pace during the warmup time. “Nothing too long,” he said. “Just enough to get the muscles warm and the legs moving and to get that speed in the legs a little bit.”

Set: If doing easy distance, hike up with poles at a Level 1 effort. If doing intensity, Fletcher recommends doing 4 x 15 minutes at threshold and taking 5 minutes in between.

Cool down: 15-20 minutes

Total time: 120-130 minutes

Fletcher’s Top-Two Tips

1. Wear the water belt. “They’re not going to have rest stations along the way so you’ve got to stay hydrated and it will be super-refreshing on your ride down.”
2. Take stake in the scenery. “The best way to keep this fun is to enjoy the hike and the nature that you’re in.”

At age 31, Bryan Fletcher estimates he’s dedicated 25 years to the sport of nordic combined. He has been a U.S. national team member for the past 11 years and maintains that first time he flew off a jump on skis occurred at the ripe age of 4. Before that, and before his first steps, Fletcher’s exposure to skiing came from the viewpoint of a child carrier on his father’s back.

For the first time since his initial national-team naming in 2006, Fletcher’s full-time work will no longer revolve around nordic combined. As of this spring, the U.S. Nordic Combined veteran has retired from World Cup competition, as have a few other internationally notable nordic-combined skiers.

For any athlete who has devoted as much time as Fletcher, retirement rarely means complete severance from the sport. From the onset of his career, nordic combined (NoCo) served as more than just an athletic pursuit for Fletcher. It was also in a way, a lifeline.

***

When he was 6 years old, Fletcher made a special request to his parents. At the time, he was a self-proscribed “adrenaline-junkie kid” living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado — a well-known ski town that is also home to the country’s historical ski jumping venue, Howelsen Hill. Fletcher had heard that his hometown was hosting a “learn-to-ski-jump day” for kids his age.

Naturally, he wanted to attend.

But even if Fletcher’s 6-year-old self self showed a fearless gall and a desire to jump, his parents had other reasons to feel nervous about signing him up. His health. Three years earlier, he had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)-

A type of cancer in which the body’s bone marrow overproduces lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell), ALL’s symptoms can range from pain in the bones and joints to fatigue and fever. To treat his condition, Fletcher completed regular chemotherapy sessions three hours away in Denver, Colorado. Some sessions left him without hair.

“I think it’s very easy for young kids, especially going through cancer, to be pretty down in the dumps and not really get to feel like they’re a normal kid,” Fletcher told FasterSkier on the phone earlier this month. “I don’t know how or why, but I guess I begged my parents enough to sign me up for that learn-to-ski-jump day.”

With some persuasion, he convinced his parents to let him partake in the event. Instantly, Fletcher was hooked, prompting him to join Steamboat’s youth ski-jumping program. Eventually, he found his way to the cross-country trails and began participating in the youth NoCo program at the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

“I think they saw the smile on my face and were like, ‘Holy cow, how are we going to tell him that he can’t do this?’ ” Fletcher recalled of the first time he tried ski jumping.

NoCo became what Fletcher referred to as the “perfect distraction” from his chemotherapy sessions and childhood cancer. In Denver, he adhered to everything his doctors recommended, especially if it meant getting back to Steamboat, skiing and jumping sooner.

“I think it was, in hindsight, a great motivator for me,” Fletcher said of his early days in the sport.

***

From then on, Nordic Combined became inextricably intertwined with his life, both on the hill and at home. His younger brother, Taylor Fletcher, who was four years younger, also picked up NoCo, and the two shared practices and passion for the sport.

“Both he and I are fighters, but … he’s always had to work for it a little bit harder than I did,” Taylor said on the phone this month. “That’s what drove him to become as good as he was.”

When Bryan was a freshman at the Winter Sports School in Park City, Utah, he was selected to be a forejumper for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“This honor further solidified my goals and ambitions to become a world-class athlete,”  Bryan wrote on his website. 

Just two years after his high-school graduation, Bryan earned a spot on the U.S. Ski Team. He was 20 years old. One year later, he qualified for his first World Championships in Sapporo, Japan, racing to 40th in the sprint.

Six months after his 22nd birthday, Bryan claimed his first Continental Cup podium: third place in an individual large hill/10-kilometer Gundersen at Soldier Hollow near Park City. He competed at his second World Championships in 2009, walking away with two individual top-30 performances (30th in the large hill/10 k and 22nd in the normal hill/10 k).

By the third competition weekend of the 2010/2011 World Cup season, Bryan had achieved his first individual top 10, placing eighth in the normal hill/10 k in Ramsau, Austria.

But it was the following season, in 2011/2012, that Fletcher really found his form. At the 2012 Holmenkollen World Cup in Oslo, Norway, he became the fifth American to win a Nordic Combined World Cup with a victory in the large hill/10 k. In that season alone, he also finished in the top 10 seven other times.

“That was kind of a pivotal point,” Fletcher said of his Holmenkollen win. “It was a reinforcing result. … I was like, ‘OK, I do belong here at the top of a World Cup and I have a future in the sport … all the sacrifices and work you’ve put into it are worth it.”

Bryan once again made the team for 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, where he and his teammates Billy Demong, Todd Lodwick and his brother Taylor raced to bronze in the 4 x 5 k team event.

“That was just solid teamwork and great performances by all,” Bryan said. “A happy moment in the career.”

Twelve years after his cameo forerunning appearance at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, Bryan found himself at the top of another Olympic jumping hill — this time wearing the Team USA race suit. He had qualified for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where he went on to finish 22nd in the large hill/10 k and 26th in the normal hill/10 k.

Over the next four years, he would qualify for two more World Championship teams as well as the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. On top of those achievements, he’d accumulate 10 more individual top-10 World Cup finishes, including two seventh-place results this past winter.

In PyeongChang, Bryan placed 17th in both individual races: the large hill and normal hill/10 k Gundersen starts.

“I went into PyeongChang wanting to have a lot of fun, obviously wanting to fight for a medal, and to put my best foot forward,” Bryan explained. “I put together probably some of my best performances on the jump hill I’ve had in several years. Unfortunately my cross-country wasn’t quite as strong as I’d hoped for, but I still felt like I put everything I had in the training going into it.”

***

When it comes to his work, Bryan is all about giving his all, which is one reason he chose to retire from World Cup competitions. It is also one of the reasons why he is not immediately transitioning into coaching, despite his close connection to the sport for so many years.

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“I am the type of guy who likes to do things 100 percent,” Bryan explained. “The sport is always growing and the level is always rising, and I just felt like I wasn’t going to be able to give the sport all the effort that I needed to give it to be successful [as an athlete]. So I decided that 2018 was the year that I would retire and I would move into finishing my academic career and start a new journey.”

His new journey will involve finishing school and spending more time with his wife and 20-month-old daughter, Ellery. Through online courses, he has been working toward a degree in health education and promotion (with an emphasis on health science), which he aims to complete by next year. Graduate school has popped into his mind, as well as the idea of becoming a physician assistant.

Though coaching may have seemed like the ideal professional avenue for an athlete like Fletcher, the U.S. team veteran sees value in spacing himself from the team before getting too deeply involved.

“I think that going into coaching is really easy, especially to go straight from your athletic career, but you don’t have that time to expand your knowledge,” he said. “For a number of years, coaching was how I wanted to stay involved in the sport. I’ve since changed that idea.”

Instead, he hopes to enhance his knowledge of athletics and health science before working with athletes. The idea is to not only allow himself to develop more, but give the current U.S. NoCo team time to develop as well.

“When you come back to a sport so fresh out of retirement, it’s easy to focus on the same problems that you had as an athlete,” Fletcher explained. “But those issues may not be necessarily what the other athletes are struggling with or what they need to work on.

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“On our team, we have some athletes that are great jumpers and we also have some athletes that are great cross-country skiers, but we don’t have particularly many of both right now,” he continued. “I think we just need to take some time to let those athletes develop in a new environment. That way you’re not just coaching the strong skiers to be strong skiers and the best jumpers to be the best jumpers, but instead allowing them to find strength in the opposite areas.”

Though he himself was 20 years old when he joined the team, by the end of his career, most of Fletcher’s teammates were almost a decade younger than him. While the team energy in recent years was one that left him admittedly needing “more naps”, he also sees the younger pool of athletes as an opportunity to foster a new team dynamic for American nordic combined.

“As the younger athletes come up, we have to let them create their own culture and be accommodating of it,” Fletcher said. “I think the way I can have the biggest impact on the team is not by jumping immediately into coaching, but instead taking some time away from the team to broaden my knowledge base and skill sets in different areas. Then several years from now, I can return to the team with a new attitude and new approach and add something different.”

For the time being, his involvement with NoCo will remain at the administrative level. He was recently elected to Team USA’s Athletes’ Advisory Council and will serve a four-year term on the board of directors.

Even so, his presence at practice sessions will be missed.

“It’s going to be weird,” Taylor said of his brother’s departure from the team. “He was always the very level-headed leader.”

As Taylor, a three-time Olympian, steps into the primary NoCo team-veteran role, Bryan was sage in his advice to those who will continue to hit the trails and the hill.

“Just have a plan in place, especially when you start to think that you’re heading down that road of retirement,” Bryan said. “I think it’s really easy to kind of get stuck and not know what you want to do, so just make sure that you kind of have some sort of idea, some kind of stepping stone to go forward.”

With the 2017/2018 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil the last of 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 the North American Performances of the Year in cross-country, biathlon and nordic combined.

Previous categories: Junior Skiers of the Year | Collegiate Skiers of the Year | Biathletes of the Year| Para-Nordic Skiers of the Year | NoCo Skier of the Year | Canadian Breakthrough Skiers of the Year | American Breakthrough Skiers of the Year| Coach of the Year | U.S. Continental Skiers of the Year| Canadian Continental Skiers of the Year| International Performances of the Year | International Skiers of the Year

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Women’s Cross-Country: U.S. Women’s Olympic Gold in Team Sprint

It had been 42 years since the last U.S. medal in an Olympic cross-country event, that being Bill Koch’s silver medal from the 1976 Winter Games. Never before had a U.S. woman taken home any Olympic hardware. Never before had an American taken home gold. Not until this year’s freestyle team sprint at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

With the Alpensia ski trails serving as their backdrop, U.S. Ski Team teammates Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins paired up to win the first U.S. women’s Olympic cross-country medal. The duo bested European nordic powerhouses, such as Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as 17 other teams, to win the much-sought-after gold.

While Randall matched Norway’s Marit Bjørgen and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in her legs of the 6 x 1.25-kilometer race, Diggins paced Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla and Sweden’s Stina Nilsson. Thanks to tactical skiing by Randall, 35, and tenacious moves by Diggins, 26, the Americans put the Swedes and Norwegians behind and the U.S. in front.

“We came into this race just knowing that if we skied smart and doing our jobs, good things could happen,” Randall told FasterSkier after the race. “We never really talked about medals. We said let’s just go out and do it and have fun. I think that really worked well for us today.”

Men’s Cross-Country: U.S. Junior Men’s Relay ( Luke Jager, Ben Ogden, Hunter Wonders, and Gus Schumacher) 2nd at Junior World Championships

In early February, the U.S. junior men’s 4 x 5 k relay team went all-in at Junior World Championships in Goms, Switzerland. In their medal quest, the American team, with Luke Jager, Ben Ogden, Hunter Wonders, and Gus Schumacher, passed two teams on Schumacher’s anchor leg and came close to catching Norway, too, ultimately placing second, 2.2 seconds behind Norway in first.

The silver-medal finish is the best American relay result to date at a Junior Worlds championships. They finished 3.3 seconds ahead of Russia, which placed third, for a new mark for the U.S. team.

“I thought it was possible, but actually getting it feels amazing,” Schumacher wrote in an email to FasterSkier after the race. “This whole trip has been really cool even without this success, it’s such an amazing place and the team is tight. I think individually I anticipated results maybe a little better, but this seems about right, and as a team I think we all surprised ourselves. Together we can make some big waves.”

Jager also attributed the team’s success to the particular chemistry of the group.

“This is something this group of guys has been dreaming of and training for for a really long time now,” Jager wrote in an email.

“To be able to watch that dream come into fruition today was indescribable. Probably the best day of my life since Cole Morgan added me on Snapchat,” Jager continued. “We came here this year to show the world that US skiing is the real deal and that we’re here to stay and I think we did that. To be able to be a piece of that history was an honor.”

Honorable Mention: Sophie Caldwell 3rd in Sprint World Cup 

Two years ago, Sophie Caldwell, encouraged by the U.S. Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb, made a goal of finishing in top three of the season-long Sprint World Cup. By the end of this winter, she achieved that goal, closing out the 2017/2018 season in third place with a total of 396 points. Just ahead of Caldwell with 495 points was Sweden’s Stina Nilsson in second and Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla in first with 573 points.

Caldwell’s race season was littered with strong sprint performances, with the 28 year old finishing in the top 10 in all but one of the sprint races she entered. She made it to the finals in four of the 10 World Cup sprints she raced and landed on the podium three times.

During World Cup Period 1, she finished eighth in the classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland, ninth in the classic sprint in Lillehammer, Norway, and eighth in the freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. Her first podium of the season came at the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, where she finished second in the freestyle sprint.

Moving on to Period 2, Caldwell opened the second cycle of World Cup racing with another top-three, finishing third in the freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. In the classic sprint in Planica, Slovenia, she tied Switzerland’s Laurien van der Graff for first place in the freestyle sprint in Seefeld, Austria.

Following the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea (where she raced to an eighth place in the classic sprint), Caldwell raced to eighth in the World Cup freestyle sprint in Lahti, Finland, 27th in the classic sprint in Drammen, Norway, and sixth in the freestyle sprint at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden.

“It’s been a good season with some really good results, but I think maybe what I am most proud of is just the consistency of my season — making it into the semifinals almost every sprint and skiing with confidence throughout the year,” Caldwell told FasterSkier in Falun.

“We were really psyched that she took after it because, all of us coaches, really believed it could be done,” Whitcomb had said of Calwell.

Honorable Mention: Alex Harvey 3rd Overall in Tour de Ski 

Even Alex Harvey will admit, the Tour de Ski’s final stage hill climb has long been his weakness.

“I have been well-ranked up until the last stage a few years in a row, but just never been able to quite do it on the last stage,” Harvey had told FasterSkier in early January following the Tour.

This year, by the Stage 7 hill climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Harvey had found his form.

The 29-year-old Canadian raced to third in the Tour, behind Switzerland’s Dario Cologna in second and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby in second.

Prior to this season, Harvey had finished in 20th in the overall in 2011 and 40th in 2012. For a few years, the Canadian did not finish the Tour due to circulatory problems in his legs, which particularly plagued him when skate skiing up hills. In the spring of 2015, he had surgery to remedy that.

In 2016, he finished 14th in the Tour de Ski (TdS), and last year, he bumped up to seventh. This season’s third place is his first in the TdS overall top three.

“I still tried to go by Sundby at the end, he had a little bit more than me,” Harvey told FasterSkier. “It is good terrain for him, a steady climb like that. He is such a strong climber — it was simply good I was able to just hang onto him until the end.”

Men’s Biathlon: U.S. Men’s Relay (Lowell Bailey, Sean Doherty, Tim Burke, Leif Nordgren), 6th place at Olympics

Individually, the 2018 Olympics were below expectations for the U.S. men’s biathlon team. The four men who competed only notched one top-30 result combined — Tim Burke placing 17th in the pursuit.

But the men’s relay, the very last biathlon competition of the Games, was another story. In a topsy-turvy race with a lot of wind and a lot of penalty loops, the Americans stayed right in it. Less than a minute out of the lead at the halfway point, they finished sixth (+3:50.2), tying the best relay result ever by an American team at any Olympics.

“On a day like today, you saw that France was in the loop, now Germany, so the top nations are in there,” Lowell Bailey said at the time. “I cannot tell you how challenging this range is. It is so much different than most of the other ranges we shoot on.”

Best ever? Yes. But Leif Nordgren and Sean Doherty, the two team members who are not retiring, were left wanting more.

“Honestly it is a little disappointing,” Nordgren said after. “I know we were gunning a lot more as a team. I had some mistakes there in prone, too. That hurt a lot since we were right there in contention with some top teams in the world.”

Women’s Biathlon: Rosanna Crawford 3rd in Ruhpolding World Cup 15 k

The women’s performance award goes to someone who had a podium coming for a long time. And in Ruhpolding, Germany, this year, Rosanna Crawford finally got it.

She shot 20-for-20 in the 15 k individual, the most grueling race format on the women’s schedule. And then she pushed her hardest over the course’s big hills to hang on to a top-three finish. One of the last starters in the field, she mixed up the podium after the pre-race favorites had already finished and perhaps had thought their positions were secure.

“I actually didn’t know I was fighting for a podium until the fourth loop,” Crawford told FasterSkier on the phone after the race. “I was like, Oh God! But I think that kind of helped, because then I knew to expect the crowd for the last standing.”

It was a big day for the Canadian team, too: their last podium was when the men’s relay won bronze at 2016 World Championships. A lot has changed since then, including a tough season in 2016-2017 for many of the team’s veterans.

But Crawford bounced back.

“Julia [Ransom], Emma [Lunder] and Sarah [Beaudry], they kind of pushed past the IBU guys [into the finish zone], which I don’t think they were allowed to do, but Canada’s not on the podium every day so they let them sneak by to give me a hug so that was really special,” Crawford told FasterSkier. “I’ve been with these girls the past couple years now and so to be able to celebrate with them is amazing. Their results have been so inspiring for me … [My coach Roddy Ward] also jumped the fence, which I don’t think was allowed, so that was nice to be able to see him as well. It’s just such a team effort to get to the podium. I’m the one out there skiing and shooting, but I couldn’t have done it without the amazing skis on my feet or my coaches behind the scope, so Matthias and Roddy were really important there, and I couldn’t have done it without the girls who I train with all summer. I’m just so grateful for this team that I’m on.”

Nordic Combined: Ben Loomis 3rd at Junior World Championships & Bryan Fletcher 7th in last race

Nineteen-year-old Ben Loomis already received our nod for Junior Skier of the Year, but his bronze-medal performance at Nordic Combined Junior World Championships deserves “Performance of the Year” accolades as well.

At his fourth and final Junior Worlds, Loomis jumped to seventh and raced to third in the first competition in Kandersteg, Switzerland.

“Taking a step on the podium was an excellent feeling today,” Loomis wrote in an email to FasterSkier after that normal hill/10 k. “I have been working very hard, especially towards this specific race for a long time now. Accomplishing this is a huge relief and very motivating for the future.”

He went on to race to seventh and finally a fourth place in the other two individual competitions at 2018 Nordic Combined Junior Worlds. Then he competed in three events at his first Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

But his main goal for the season, and his main goal for the last two years, had been to take a medal at Junior Worlds.

“I’ve always done pretty well against juniors my same age so that gave me confidence going into Junior Worlds,” he told FasterSkier in an email earlier this month. “Of course, I was very happy and at the same time relieved to have meet my goal. This result was huge because it not only helped myself out, but it opened up another World Cup spot which is a help for the whole team. This certainly made everyone happy.”

Then, there was U.S. Nordic Combined’s team veteran, Bryan Fletcher, who placed seventh in the last World Cup race of his career — tying his best result of the 2017/2018 season. He was our pick for this year’s Nordic Combined Skier of the Year, and we think they way he ended his career is worthy of recognition in this category as well.

On March 14 in Trondheim, Norway, the 31-year-old Fletcher jumped to 12th then skied to seventh in the large hill/individual 10 k, posting the seventh-fastest 10 k time in the process. Fletcher scored World Cup points by finishing the the top 30 of nine of 10 individual races he entered. He also placed 17th in two individual races at the Olympics.

“I think that it’s going to be bittersweet,” Fletcher said of his retirement in a video interview with FIS. “I’m happy that it’s over and that I’ve gotten to experience the whole journey. But it’ll also be a little sad because it’s a long journey coming to an end … and there’s going to be a lot of things to remember and miss of this sport.”

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

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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.

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.

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 junior athletes across all nordic disciplines. 

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Ben Loomis, U.S. Nordic Combined Team

In late January, 19-year-old Ben Loomis was named to the U.S. Olympic team. That was a pretty big deal, and one he hadn’t been relying on.

“My main focus this year was on World Juniors, so to have made, and competed in, the Olympics was a dream in itself,” he wrote in an email to FasterSkier last week. “I really didn’t have any goals past having fun, taking in the experience, and doing my best.”

Before he actually arrived in PyeongChang, South Korea, though, he had another trip to make: to Kandersteg, Switzerland, to compete in the thing that was his big goal, World Junior Championships.

In Kandersteg, Loomis improved on his top-ten finish from the previous season, earning bronze in the normal hill 10 k. In doing so, he became the first American to medal in nordic combined at World Juniors since Todd Lodwick won gold in 1996.

“A medal at World Juniors was definitely my goal going in, in fact, it had been a goal for the two years prior,” Loomis wrote of finally checking that box. “I knew the level I was at, and the level of the my competitors, so I was confident that a podium was well within my capabilities.”

As a developing talent on the U.S. team, Loomis is often competing at senior competitions, be it on the Continental Cup or the World Cup. In Kandersteg, he actually had the chance to measure himself against his own cohort.

“It can often be humbling to compete on World Cup as one of the younger athletes which makes junior competitions much much less stressful,” Loomis wrote. “I’ve always done pretty well against juniors my same age so that gave me confidence going into Junior Worlds. Of course, I was very happy and at the same time relieved to have meet my goal. This result was huge because it not only helped myself out, but it opened up another World Cup spot which is a help for the whole team. This certainly made everyone happy.”

In the normal hill 5 k, he was just one spot off the podium in fourth.

When asked to peg his favorite memory from the season, though, the medal wasn’t it. Neither was the Olympics, where his top finish was 40th and he helped the U.S. relay team to 10th place.

“I have to say Olympic Trials in Park City was one of the most memorable days this season,” Loomis wrote. “It’s rare to compete at home, and to have the enthusiasm of large crowd made the day exciting. To top things off, I was happy to finish on the podium behind veteran Bryan Fletcher and my older brother, Adam.”

Hailey Swirbul, University of Alaska Anchorage

The same day that Loomis won his bronze medal, Hailey Swirbul was taking her own step onto the podium about 75 kilometers away in Ulrichen, Switzerland, where the cross-country portion of World Junior Championships was being held.

“This season I had wanted to focus on NCAA races more than I had the previous year, but once the season got under way it was difficult to forget about the temptation of doing well at World Juniors,” the University of Alaska Anchorage sophomore wrote in an email this week. “I tried to take on each of those goals individually as they approached and focus solely on the race that I needed to at the moment.”

Last season, Katharine Ogden won bronze in the World Juniors skiathlon, and she and Swirbul teamed up with Julia Kern and Hannah Halvorsen to earn bronze in the relay, too.

In the 5 k classic in Ulrichen, Swirbul did one better than Ogden’s mark and claimed silver, just 14.4 seconds behind gold medal winner Polina Nekrasova of Russia.

“I think the moment I’ll remember (albeit a long moment), was the time from when I crossed the finish line in the 5 k individual start to when I learned I would actually receive a medal,” Swirbul wrote this week, when asked what the most memorable moment of her season was. “Interval start races are not instant gratification like a mass start is… you’ve got to wait out the whole field to see if you actually did well. I was seeded about 20th from the last starter, so I had plenty of waiting in anticipation! I will always remember the people who were there with me through that and told me they think I’ve done it; and the excitement from the entire team about my individual success. It’s amazing to be from a country where every teammate celebrates an individual success almost as their own.”

It was the best World Juniors finish ever for an American.

“The result hasn’t hit me yet,” Swirbul wrote in an email after the race back in January. “It was beyond what I expected, so my brain is still catching up to the reality! I’ve been dreaming of racing how I know I could for the past 3 years or so, and this season has finally been my chance to break through. I’m so fortunate that things aligned for me on the day that really counted. I couldn’t have done it without Bryan Fish’s unwavering belief in us athletes, and my mom and dad’s support all these years, of course.”

But she was far from finished. In the 10 k skiathlon, Swirbul picked up a bronze to go with her silver.

“After my silver medal I believed in myself more than before,” she wrote at the time. “However, I managed to stay calm and not put high expectations on myself for the skiathlon which allowed me to race my best. I was hoping to ski smart and relaxed and not be afraid to make it hurt! In a mass start that is really all I can control.”

Swirbul helped the U.S. junior women to eighth place in the relay. Then she returned to the U.S., where the college season was still going strong.

“Being on the western circuit, I realized that coming back to ‘domestic’ racing is hardly domestic at all!” Swirbul wrote this week. “Our circuit has helped me prepared for international races, because many of our athletes are international. I have learned so much from them in each race. Otherwise, it was difficult to switch back to full on school mode, but the skiing transition was fun!”

She rallied for the seawolves, and placed third in the 5 k classic and second in the 15 k skate mass start at NCAA Championships, the second American in both races – which were swept by Ogden (University of Colorado’s Anne Siri Lervik, from Norway, was second in the 5 k classic).

“That was one of the most exciting races that I’ve ever watched,” UAA head Nordic coach Andrew Kastning said in a press release after the NCAA 15 k. “Hailey skied as good as she possibly could have, and was very smart.”

Honorable Mentions: Ben Ogden (Stratton Mountain School) and Gus Schumacher (Alaska Winter Stars)

The best individual result on the men’s side at World Juniors, for the Americans, came from Ben Ogden. The then-17-year-old (he’s since turned 18) finished seventh in the 10 k classic, 10.9 seconds off the podium.

“I went into World Juniors without much in the way of expectations,” Ogden wrote in an email this week. “My official goal was a top 20, but I had no idea of the achievability of that considering this was my first World Juniors. I knew that classic 10 k’s are a relatively strong point for me, so I was excited to see where I stacked up. Finishing the individual start race race as the temporary leader, and ending up seventh overall was incredibly exciting. This race was mind-blowing for me and showed that anything is possible. This elevated my expectations and hopes for the races to come, which was cool.”

Along with teammate Gus Schumacher, who finished 17th in the 10 k, Ogden gave the U.S. team a lot of hope for the future.

“It’s really exciting when you look at our day in general,” U.S. Ski and Snowboard development coach Bryan Fish noted the day of the classic race. “We had two young boys with 2000 birth years; there was only three boys in the top 40 that had a 2000 year of birth and we had two. … That’s just really exciting for U.S. skiing in general, that we have athletes showing up not just to participate, but to really perform.”

That promise came due a few days later when, along with Hunter Wonders and Luke Jager, the duo raced to a silver medal in the junior men’s relay, an unprecedented result and going one better than the women’s relay had the year before.

“If I had a dime for every time an announcer, coach, athlete, or anyone else remotely involved in cross-country skiing has called me ‘the younger brother of the infamous Katharine Ogden’ I would be a very rich younger brother,” Ogden wrote this week. “After years of this, it become clear that the only way to shirk this nickname is to rival or even beat her skiing performances… So naturally, I went into the relay at World Juniors hoping to help create the circumstances under which Katharine may just once be referred to as Ben Ogden’s older sister. I know this goal seemed incredibly lofty but after a successful week, it was time to dream big. I am pleased to say that along side the iconic Alaskan trio, Hunter Wonders, Juke Jager and of course Gus Schumacher, we were able to pull off the ultimate one-up on Katharine and her friends from the year prior. Each of my teammates had their own motivations for the race that allowed them to preform in such a heroic fashion, and I can only imagine that the overall performance also exceeded their wildest dreams.”

The team was never far out, with Jager leading things out in sixth (+14.0), Ogden bringing the team to fourth (+22.8) and Wonders holding that position (+29.0). But Schumacher as the anchor skier did hero’s work and made up the time to pass the French and Russian teams, and crossed the line just 2.2 seconds behind Norway to secure silver. It was a team effort that landed the Americans just 3.3 seconds clear of third place.

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“Experiencing the podium here has been so cool,” Schumacher wrote at the time. “I thought it was possible, but actually getting it feels amazing. This whole trip has been really cool even without this success, it’s such an amazing place and the team is tight. I think individually I anticipated results maybe a little better, but this seems about right, and as a team I think we all surprised ourselves. Together we can make some big waves.”

The juniors have also had success against the senior field. Schumacher finished sixth in the 15 k skate at U.S. Nationals and eighth in the skate sprint. And Ogden, for example, was ninth in the 15 k skate at U.S. Nationals, and qualified fourth in the classic sprint before finishing 12th on the day.

“I think that one of my strongest races of the season was the individual skate 15 k at U.S. Nationals in Anchorage,” Ogden, who is headed for the University of Vermont next year, wrote in an email this week. “I was excited to place in the top 10 overall, especially in a skate race, which has been is my weaker technique in the past.”

Honorable Mention: Chloe Levins, US Biathlon 

Despite being just a junior in the biathlon world, Middlebury College student Chloe Levins elbowed her way in to the U.S. Olympic Trials process. She excelled at trials races in Minnesota to earn a spot on the team’s short list for PyeongChang, before ultimately falling just short in the final trial competitions, some IBU Cup races in Europe.

But after that, Levins bounced back to provide remarkably strong and consistent results at World Junior Championships in Otepää, Estonia. Levins finished sixth in the 12.5 k individual, seventh in the 7.5 k sprint, and then sixth again in the 10 k pursuit. She still has one more season of junior eligibility, too.

“In pursuit races in the past, I’ve come from behind,” Levins, who placed fourth in last year’s Youth Worlds pursuit, wrote in an email to FasterSkier at the end of World Juniors. “Today, it was a new learning experience for me to be in the mix for the duration of the race. My plan was simple from the start: enjoy being in the mix and trust your preparation. I found the zone today, which is what you dream about. I don’t remember much about the last stage. All I know for sure is that I went for it today…and I have no regrets.”

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Madshus USA, Concept2, Boulder Nordic Sport, and Swix Sport US for their generous support, which made this coverage possible.

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2018 Olympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): Biathlon Women’s 4 x 6 k relay

Full report

Ranked just 10th coming into today’s women’s relay, the team from Belarus stole the show with Darya Domracheva skating across the line to claim the fourth Olympic gold of her career after strong efforts from Nadezhda Skardino and Iryna Kryuko, both of whom have stood on the World Cup podium before, and newcomer Dzinara Alimbekava, a 22-year-old newcomer with just 11 World Cup starts to her name. It was the first relay medal ever won by Belarus at the Olympics.

The setting was windy and snow-blown and the race was extremely tight, with seven teams with one penalty loop (or a few spare bullets) worth of time going into the final leg. The Belarusians’ nine spare rounds were the best shooting of the day; while that spare-round tally was matched by Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, and Japan, those teams had penalty loops as well.

Sweden actually wasn’t one of them, but with perfect shooting and a fast ski time 15 k gold medalist Hanna Öberg brought the team to silver after starting the anchor leg in eighth, a minute back. She benefitted from many missed shots by the leaders, and then passed France’s Anais Bescond on the final loop to claim second, 10.7 seconds back, for her teammates (Linn Persson, Mona Brorsson, and Anna Magnusson) while France (Bescond, Anais Chevalier, Marie Dorin Habert, and Justine Braisaz) took bronze (17.6). These medal-winning teams used 12 and 14 spare rounds, respectively, an unusually high tally.

Norway (Synnøve Solemdal, Tiril Eckhoff, Ingrid Tandrevold, and Marte Olsbu) finished fourth, +29.7, Slovakia fifth (+38.4), Switzerland sixth (+43.5) after winning a photo finish against Poland (+43.6), and Germany finished seventh (+53.9).

The Canadian team of Sarah Beaudry, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder, and Rosanna Crawford finished 10th, +1:33.4. Their shooting of eleven spare rounds and one penalty loop was among the better scores of the day.

The United States had a strong start, with Susan Dunklee tagging off in second place, Clare Egan maintaining a good position in fourth, and Joanne Reid rebounding from one bad shooting stage to tag off in sixth. Anchor leg Emily Dreissigacker crossed the finish line in 13th, +2:01.9.

Results

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2018 Olympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): Nordic Combined Team Competition

After sweeping the medals in the large hill competition, perhaps it was not a surprise that Germany won the nordic combined team event. It was a blowout: ranked second after the jumping round but starting the cross-country ski relay just six seconds behind Austria, the Germans quickly took the lead and then just extended it. Their team of Vinzenz Geiger, Fabian Riessle, Eric Frenzel, and Johannes Rydzek won by 52.7 seconds over Norway’s Jan Schmid, Espen Andersen, Jarl Magnus Riiber, and Jørgen Gråbak. Austria hung on for third, +1:07.8, with Wilhelm Denifl, Lukas Klapfer, Bernhard Gruber, and Mario Seidl.

The United States team of Taylor Fletcher, Ben Berend, Ben Loomis, and Bryan Fletcher lost out on a photo finish with Poland and finished 10th out of 10 teams, +5:16.7.

Results

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Madshus USA, Concept2, Boulder Nordic Sport, and Swix Sport US for their generous support, which made this coverage possible.

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It was a total team effort on Tuesday for Germany in the second nordic-combined individual event of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, with Fabian Rießle, Johannes Rydzek and Eric Frenzel, with the help of Austria’s Wilhelm Denifl, chasing down Japan’s Akito Watabe and Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber about 6 kilometers into the 10 k race.

Earlier on Tuesday, Watabe had put himself in first with the best-ranked jump on PyeongChang’s 142-meter large hill. He started the 10 k Gundersen in first, just 1 second ahead of Riiber, who had jumped to second, just 0.3 points behind Watabe.

(Riiber had actually jumped farther with a distance of 139 meters, compared to Watabe’s 134-meter jump, and scored identical marks from the judges but lost points for wind compensation.)

Behind them, Denifl started the 10 k race 16 seconds out of first, Frenzel surged out of the start 24 seconds back, Rydzek 31 seconds behind, and Rießle 34 seconds back.

While Watabe led Riiber off the front for the first two laps of the four-lap race, the three Germans caught Denifl before lapping through the stadium for the first time at 2.5 k. From there, 16 seconds behind the leaders, the four-man group worked to reel in first and second place and did so by 6 k.

The lead pack then became six as Riiber and Watabe continued to position themselves up front at the 7.5 k mark.

On the final lap at the 8.58 k marker, Watabe charged to the front in his move to reclaim first. After taking the lead on an uphill, it wasn’t long after until he found himself skiing with three others alongside him: Riiber, Rydzek and Frenzel.

Then, Watabe slipped behind Riiber and the group closed in around him. Watabe clipped a ski, apparently with Rießle, who didn’t stumble, but Watabe did and dropped to the back of the pack. For Watabe, that was the end. For Germany, it was the beginning.

Frenzel led the charge up the final climb with Rydzek and Rießle behind him while Riiber tried to keep pace. Riiber slotted into fourth over the top and the foursome flew down into the stadium, with Rydzek coming out of the draft in first and leading Rießle, Frenzel and Riiber to the finish, respectively.

They finished in that order, with Rydzek taking gold in 23:52.5 minutes, 0.4 seconds ahead of Rießle in second place and 0.8 seconds ahead of Frenzel in third. Riiber crossed 2.8 seconds back in fourth, and Watabe ended up fifth (+12.5).

Germany had four in the top seven with Vinzenz Geiger in seventh (+50.1), behind Finland’s Eero Hirvonen in sixth (+22.1).

“I looked up to the video wall and saw the first three: all Germans,” Geiger recalled in a post-race interview with German broadcaster ARD. “That made me really happy, and of course I can also be happy about my seventh place.”

Frenzel had previously taken gold and Watabe silver in the first nordic-combined event of the 2018 Olympics, the normal hill/10 k on Feb. 14. Riiber was fourth for the second-straight competition.

American Bryan Fletcher repeated his result from the normal-hill competition as well, placing 17th on Tuesday, 1:42.9 minutes behind Rydzek in first. Fletcher had started the 10 k 2:04 minutes back in 23rd based on his jump. His teammate Ben Berend started 8 seconds behind him in 24th. Ultimately, Fletcher raced up to 17th with the 10th-fastest course time while Berend slipped to 39th (+4:28.2).

“The second I was in the air I knew I had a good one,” Berend told FasterSkier after the jumping portion of Tuesday’s competition. “Because when you do it right, you’re just flying, and I was really high and I was pulling away towards the bottom of the hill and so I knew, but I couldn’t feel any wind or anything. I was just so psyched, trying to enjoy every second of it.

“I haven’t had that many good jumps this season so I’ve just been searching for that,” Berend explained. “It’s funny, it’s so easy when you are doing it right and it’s so hard when you’re lost, and so I finally felt like, that might have been my best jump of the season, honestly, so what are the odds of doing that at the Olympics? That’s pretty cool.”

Tuesday was the 22 year old’s first Olympic competition after he sat out the first individual event because his jumping had been going poorly in training, he said. (Each team can only start four athletes per event. Taylor Fletcher sat out Tuesdsay’s competition.)

“I definitely was a little nervous for tonight, even though there is no pressure on me,” Berend said. “… Our coach [three-time U.S. Olympic biathlete Jeremy Teela] texted us, he’s actually our cross-county coach, he’s back at home, and he just said, ‘You guys have nothing to lose. Don’t be scared to fail.’ So that’s kind of our mindset here, and it was good; it kind of works for me.”

After the race, Bryan Fletcher, who had skied up to 13th by 7.5 k, recalled pulling a chase group for most of the four laps. He ended up 17th, 3.2 seconds shy of 16th place, behind Japan’s Go Yamamoto.

“I went all in and just tried to make up as much ground as possible,” Fletcher told FasterSkier after. “I was hopeful and optimistic that I’d have the legs at the end. I knew that they were going to come around me with a pretty hard attack, and both of the guys that were with me have great finishing sprints, so I tried to pace myself a little bit, but I also knew that 17th or 10th or whatever you could get up to, it doesn’t really matter unless you’re on the podium so I was really going all in. … Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but I’m happy with how I skied and happy with the performance I had on the course today.”

Just behind Berend, his teammate Ben Loomis finished 40th (+4:38.8), up from 43rd in the jump, and Jasper Good followed in 43rd (+5:50.2), up from 46th.

“It was kind of tough jumping … [and] hard to start the race at the back, but overall it was a good race by me and I felt pretty good out there,” Loomis said after. “Regardless of how I have and how I continue to do here, there’s a lot to take away and I’m learning a lot about how to better refine my preparations and just stay relaxed out there and just really put my best foot forward.”

Nordic combined at the 2018 Games will conclude with the 4 x 5 k team event on Thursday.

Results: Jumping | Final

— Jason Albert and Harald Zimmer contributed