Listed at the bottom of a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association (USSA) press release Until 2014, USSA managed the U.S. Nordic Combined Team. The team is now run by USA Nordic, yet Jarrett’s position has remained under USSA’s umbrella — they continued to pay his salary. With the 2014 split, Jarrett’s responsibilities grew as he took on both coaching duties as well as some of the logistics of running a team. “Honestly, it’s amazing he lasted as long...
On the final days of the FIS Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix, Taylor Fletcher raced to 15th overall for the U.S. while teammates Ben Berend and Ben Loomis proved they can fly. "Throughout the two-week Grand Prix Tour I had some of the furthest jumps on the hill," Berend told FS. “By the time we got to Oberstdorf my confidence was through the roof."
Two years ago, the U.S. nordic combined community suffered a moment of letdown as its major source of funding, USSA, changed course with regard to its sport. Now, the newly formed USA Nordic Sport is spearheading efforts to rejuvenate interest in jumping and nordic combined. Its leader is Olympic gold medalist and former team veteran Billy Demong.
This year's nordic-combined award winners are Bryan Fletcher, who led the U.S. in 20th overall on the World Cup, and U.S. development-team member Jasper Good, who notched 11th and 12th at Junior World Championships in Romania.
U.S. Nordic Combined coach Dave Jarrett talks about the cause and effect of a string of World Cup cancellations this season. "Every race that we have had the ability to start five guys on the World Cup has been canceled so far, and we are not going to get those chances back," he explains.
Taylor Fletcher stood on the World Cup podium for the first time since 2013, when he placed third in a 10 k large hill competition in Sapporo, Japan. "My last podium was not a fluke," Fletcher said. After World Championships, he made it clear that he still wants more: "I'm probably the most competitive guy out there."
Late last month, Billy Demong spoke on behalf of his sport at the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation trustees' annual meeting. What came out of it was 15 Gold Passes, valued at $10,000 apiece, which U.S. Nordic Combined is currently trying to sell to help pay for its 2014/2015 season.
Back in April, July 31 seemed like dark cloud looming in the distance. But it wasn't that far off, and fortunately for U.S. Nordic Combined, it wasn't all that dreary. "Things are moving forward for sure, and it’s a little bit more hopeful than in April," head coach Dave Jarrett says, explaining that he kept his job and hopes to have two other coaches and two wax techs help him this season.
More on U.S. Nordic Combined's predicament after its program lost direct USSA funding earlier this week. We caught up with both Fletcher brothers as well as USSA Vice President Luke Bodensteiner to hear more about the decision and what it means for the sport in the U.S.
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association dealt U.S. Nordic Combined tough news on Monday when it informed them funding would cease after July 31, 2014, according to head coach Dave Jarrett, who's now searching for alternative financial solutions.
After two Americans finished in the top 30 of the first nordic-combined competition at the Sochi Olympics, the team is looking for better performances in today's large hill/10 k -- of which Billy Demong is the defending Olympic champion.
From seven years of chemotherapy and a treatment-induced stroke, to being nominated to his first Olympic Team, Bryan Fletcher has overcome the odds to be one of the best athletes in the world. He will be joined by his brother, Taylor, in Sochi to partake in the quest to reach Olympic greatness and achieve their ultimate goal: an Olympic medal.
The U.S. Cross-Country and Nordic Combined teams officially announced their athlete selections for the 2014 Winter Olympics, which start in just over two weeks in Sochi, Russia.
"I’m a firm believer that things happen in life for a reason," Todd Lodwick said Tuesday afternoon while icing his shoulder at the Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah. Four days after a "fluky" crash in a provisional jump in France, the U.S. Nordic Combined veteran is rehabbing stateside. "We’re going to move forward with every intention to go to the Olympic Games," he said.
Todd Lodwick hadn’t felt nerves like he experienced last Saturday in a long time. The U.S. Nordic Combined veteran was about to see if he could make his sixth Olympic team at the U.S. Olympic trials on Dec. 28. He came out on top of the individual 10-kilometer competition in Park City and made history as the first American to qualify for six Winter Olympics. "If I touch one kid to help them achieve their dream, then I consider my career a success," Lodwick says.
Wondering why Billy Demong was competing at the Continental Cup this week in Utah? Things are definitely not derailing for the U.S. Nordic Combined veteran or his teammates back in Europe -- in fact, they're right on track. On Thursday, Demong secured the team's fifth World Cup quota spot.
From the cross-country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, to U.S. Nordic Combined's best finish in a team sprint in Ramsau, Austria, to five straight days of biathlon races in Annecy, France: here's everything you didn’t get to read about over the weekend.
Mention the name 'Peter Hale' and you'll be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn't think he was one of the nicest, most giving people in the U.S. nordic industry -- and it wasn't because he was a salesman. In fact, making money might have been least important to Hale; he was in it for the athletes.
Billy Demong put himself in fighting position and went on to win Sunday's 10 k rollerski at U.S. Nordic Combined Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y., holding off the Fletcher brothers for his ninth national title.
