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,...
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.
The Americans faced a tough day both on the hill and on the course during Saturday’s Nordic combined WC in Lillehammer. Mikko Kokslien (NOR) won, ahead of Jason Lamy-Chappuis (FRA) and Felix Gottwald (AUT) in third place. Brett Camerota in 40th place was the top US skier. Taylor Fletcher was 41st, Bryan Fletcher 44th and Bill Demong 45th.
Bryan Fletcher skied into a solid 18th place in the second World Cup competition this season, a career best for the 24-year-old from Steamboat Springs, Colo. Felix Gottwald (AUT) won the race, working from 28th place after jumping to beat Mikko Kokslien (NOR) who started in 21st place.
As Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane strode triumphantly to the podium for the flower ceremony after today’s nordic combined competition, a parade of sullen-looking Europeans was walking through the mixed zone, in the other direction. It was easy to miss them—after all, they weren’t the ones who won medals. But they had an interesting story to tell, too: how Thursday’s weather conditions in the jumping round had ruined their chances for Olympic glory. Big names...
Whistler, British Columbia – The US Nordic Combined team will paying overweight on their flight back to Park City. A historic day doubled their Vancouver medal haul, giving them nearly nine pounds of hardware. Billy Demong skied away from teammate Johnny Spillane and Austrian Bernard Gruber on the final climb to claim Olympic gold. With a move of his own, Spillane left Gruber in the dust, too—laying claim to his 3rd silver medal of the...
Whistler, British Columbia – The two skiers swept around the large curve down into the stadium, Billy Demong of the USA in the lead, Austrian Mario Stecher right on his heels, the gold medal waiting, just 200 meters away. Stecher stepped out, tucking past Demong. There would be no sprint for the line. The gap was enough, and Austria champions. The American team, in claiming the silver, made US Nordic Combined history for the second...