
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 17th overall. On the Large Hill, Shumate placed 19th overall with a 127.5 meter jump, putting him +2:34 behind the leader to start the 10km. He then climbed to his 17th 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 19th overall. This is a new personal best at the Olympic Winter Games for Loomis in the Large Hill/10km, after finishing 40th overall in PyeongChang 2018. After posting a 129.0 meter jump on the hill, Loomis started the 10km in 17th, +2:26 behind the leader. He then finished the 10km race with a course time of 26:51.2 for a 19th 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 23rd overall, his second best overall finish at the Olympic Winter Games in this event, as he finished 20th overall in Sochi 2014. After his jump on the Large Hill, Fletcher found himself in 35th with a 117.0 meter jump, +3:54 behind the leader to start the 10km. Fletcher was then able to vault himself to a 23rd overall finish, as he finished the race with a time of 25:42.7.
