Wednesday Olympic Rundown: Bryan Fletcher 17th; Biathlon Postponed

American Bryan Fletcher racing to 17th in the men’s 10 k Gundersen start today, the second half of the nordic-combined normal hill/10 k competition, on Wednesday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. It was his first individual top 20 at his second Olympics. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)

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 Winter Olympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): Nordic Combined Individual Normal Hill/10 k

Full report

After the jumping round of the nordic-combined individual normal hill/10-kilometer Gundersen-start competition on Wednesday, Austria’s Franz-Josef Rehrl topped the standings thanks to a jump of 112 meters, just a meter farther than second place Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway.

The top American was Bryan Fletcher, who sat in 18th place after a jump of 97.5 meters good for 99 points. He started the 10 k cross-country skiing portion of the competition 2:06 behind Rehrl, 1:51 behind Riiber – who has won two World Cups this season – and 1:30 behind defending Olympic champ Frenzel.

Fletcher initially made up some time on the leaders, but as the pace of the race was constantly changing in the end he wound up just one spot ahead of where he started, in 17th. Defending Olympic champ Eric Frenzel of Germany made it to the front after starting in bib five and sprinted to a 4.8 second victory over Japan’s Akito Watabe. Austria’s Lukas Klapfer earned bronze (+18.1) just ahead of Riiber (+22.5). Fletcher’s time was 2:12.2 behind Frenzel at the finish.

Ben Loomis and Taylor Fletcher jumped to 37th and 39th positions, respectively, and started the cross-country competition 3:24 and 3:37 out of the lead. Taylor Fletcher moved up four spots to finish 35th (+3:27.8) while Loomis lost a few places to finish 41st (+4:29.4). The final American starter, Jasper Good, was last (47th) after the jumping round but made up two spots on the trails to finish 45th (+5:48.4)

Results: Jumping | Final

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Biathlon: Women’s 15 k Individual

Due to high winds, the women’s 15 k individual has been postponed until Thursday. The new Thursday schedule for biathlon competitions is:

Women’s 15 k individual: 5:15 p.m. local time / 3:15 a.m. EST / 9:15 a.m. CET

Men’s 20 k individual: 8:20 p.m. local time / 6:20 a.m. EST / 12:20 p.m. CET