Second chances are few and far between in professional sports, but with the International Ski Federation adding a second Nordic Combined Team event to the 2011 World Championships, Germany had just that. After taking the silver in the first team competition on Monday, Germany extended an impressive streak of five straight World Championships finishing second. The extra opportunity would not change the results however, and the Germans once again came up short, this time by...
After just missing the medals in the first two competitions at the 2011 World Championships, an American-born athlete was back on top of the nordic combined podium on Wednesday. Billy Demong? Nope. Todd Lodwick? Guess again. Maybe Johnny Spillane? Or the two flying Fletcher brothers, Bryan and Taylor? No, no, and no. Instead, it was Jason Lamy Chappuis, a French citizen born in Montana, who took the win in the individual large hill competition in...
Five years ago, a fourth place finish for the Americans in a nordic combined team event at World Championships would have been tough to swallow, since U.S. medals at major competitions had been few and far between. But in the season following the 2010 Olympics, which saw U.S. athletes take three silvers and a gold, collecting the “wooden medal” in their first of two team events in Oslo was merely a mild letdown. “Considering I’m...
Monday features a team competition on the normal hill, and the US Nordic Combined team is looking to improve on their first race at the 2011 World Championships.
The German cross-country team is off to an inauspicious start at the 2011 World Championships, but their Nordic Combined brethren are doing their best to make up for it. Twenty-two-year-old Eric Frenzel (GER) rode a stellar jump to a convincing victory in the men’s Normal Hill Gundersen 10km event in Oslo, Norway on Saturday afternoon. The 26,000 fans may not have been able to see much through the dense fog, but even if they had,...
While the Americans posted some of the best cross-country legs – in fact, the fastest time of the day belonged to Bill Demong who ended up in seventh place and was the top American – the jumping left room for improvement across the board.
With crew consisting of some real veterans, some seasoned racers and a rookie, the US Nordic Combined Team is ready and excited for the normal hill competition at the 2011 World Championships Saturday. On a good day, it could go all the way to the podium.
OTEPAA, Estonia (Jan. 27) – American Cliff Field (Steamboat Springs, CO) took 19th in Thursday’s HS100/10k nordic combined competition at the FIS Junior World Nordic Ski Championships in Otepaa, Estonia. Johannes Rydzek of Germany won the event in 26:37.7 followed by Slovenia’s Marjan Jelenko and Estonia’s hometown hero Kaarel Nurmsalu in second and third. Field’s time of 29:36.6 was good enough to earn him top-20 honors. Other American finishers included Nick Hendrickson (Park City, UT)...
Capping the World Cup weekend in Chaux Neuve (FRA) with all four team members in the top 30 is a good indication for being on track for the 2011 Worlds in Oslo. Now it’s all about polishing the details.
January 25, 2011 (Park City, Utah) – Olympic medalists and World Champions Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO), Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) and Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) will lead the decorated U.S. Nordic Combined World Championship Team to Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway for the Jan. 26 – Mar. 4 Championships. The Team, whose members have achieved four World Championship titles plus one team and three individual Olympic medals, was announced Monday after athletes qualified through...
CHAUX-NEUVE, France (Jan. 23) – Olympic silver medalist Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) jumped third and hung on in a hotly contested battle to finish eighth in a nordic combined World Cup in Chaux-Neuve in the Jura mountains near Geneva. All four U.S. skiers finished in the top-30 points as France’s Jason Lamy-Chappuis wrapped up the World Cup title with a dominating win. While the podium still eluded the USA, it was another steppingstone event...
CHAUX-NEUVE, France – Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) turned in yet another strong performance, moving up from 25th in the jump to finish 21st in a nordic combined World Cup in France. Austrian David Kreiner spoiled the day for fans of French World Cup leader Jason Lamy-Chappuis as he took the win. Lamy-Chappuis was fourth. The race also marked the return of Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) to action following the birth of his baby boy Liam a week...
The upcoming nordic combined World Cup races in France, represent the last chance to get international points before the World Championships in Oslo in February, and the US Nordic Combined racers are eager to collect.
PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 17) – Continental Cup podium performers Peter Frenette (Saranac Lake, NY) and Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT) lead a squad of 12 nordic combined and ski jumping athletes named by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association to the World Junior Nordic Championship Team Monday. The squad, which includes athletes from USSA clubs across the nation, will compete in Otepaa, Estonia Jan. 27-30. Frenette will lead the men’s ski jumping team after...
Taylor Fletcher was the top American in the Nordic Combined World Cup event in Seefeld (AUT) Sunday, posting a 29th place.
Todd Lodwick posted a 23rd overall after jumping to 17th, while Bryan Fletcher was the second American in 28th place in the World Cup individual competition. Fletcher was 14th after the jumping in Seefeld (AUT) Saturday.
The US Ski Team posted a solid seventh place in Seefeld (AUT) Friday, and head coach Dave Jarrett was satisfied with the overall as well as individual performance, knowing that the team can build on the experience.
With Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane joining the US Nordic Combined team in Europe, the crew will split into two groups for the upcoming race weekend. One group will head to the World Cup in Seefeld (AUT) while the others aim for the COC races in Klingenthal (GER).
Bryan Fletcher posted the top American result at the World Cup in Schonach (GER), finishing in 31st place after an unfortunate turn of events on the cross-country course.
Bryan Fletcher, who left Europe before Christmas with a career-best eighth place at the World Cup events in Ramsau (AUT), has spent the holidays polishing the details and preparing for the next events.