Lodwick (x3), Van, Jerome Take US Titles
Thursday:   USSA report     K114 Jump     NC Jump   NC Race
Friday:         USSA report     K90   Jump
The Chevrolet US Nordic Ski Championships were held in Steamboat Springs March 24/25. Snow hampered the K114 jumping on Thursday, and three Steamboat skiers swept the men's podium ... Todd Lodwick, Clint Jones & Tommy Schwall. The women's top three were all from Park City; Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome, & Alissa Johnson. In Nordic Combined Sprint, Lodwick again took first, followed by Jed Hinkley & Bill Demong. Check link above for latest updates from Steamboat.

Friday brought Lodwick the K90 jump championship, giving him a sweep for the second consecutive year and his fifteenth overall US championship. Once again, Jones and Demong finished 2nd and 3rd. In the women's class, Jerome took the win ahead of Van, with Johnson 3rd once again. USSA daily reports and all event scoresheets available via links above.

Romoeren Flies 239 Meters at Planica!
Sets new record in trial, Hautamaeki breaks, Romoeren reclaims!
Planica website     Saturday results     Sunday trial     Sunday results
Sunday's action got off to a dramatic start when Norway's Tommy Ingebrigtsen flew 231 meters in the trial round to equal the world record set here in 2003 by Finland's Matti Hautamaeki. His teammate Bjoern Einar Romoeren then blasted the old record away with a flight of 234.5 meters (in ski flying, records can be set in trial rounds).

In Round 1, Ingebrigtsen and Austrian Andreas Widhoelzl each hit 231, and World Champion Janne Ahonen of Finland flew 233.5. Most jumpers significantly increased their their distances in Round 2. Hautamaeki upped the record to 235.5, and held it for five minutes, until Romoeren winged it to 239 meters! There was more drama Ahonen hit 240, but fell after landing. Romoeren's teammate Roar Ljoekelsoey finished 2nd,Widhoelzl 3rd, Hautamaeki 4th, and Slovenian Rok Benkovic 5th.

This weekend was reminiscent of the Planica meet 20 years ago when Finland's Matti Nykaenen set a new record, had it broken by American Mike Holland, then reclaimed it later that day. For those wondering ... 239 meters = 784 feet ... seven eighty four!

SuperTour Finals, Park City Visa Series
Visa results     SuperTour results     SuperTour final standings
Tommy Schwall won Sunday's final SuperTour event on the K120 at Park City on March 21. Bill Demong was 2nd, with Hartman Rector 3rd. Jessica Jerome won the women's comp, followed by Lindsey Van. There was a Visa series comp on the K90 Saturday; Schwall and Chris Francis won the men's senior and junior classes respectively. Van was the women's winner.

Sagen, Van, Jerome 1-2-3 in Oslo
Women's LCOC shares spotlight at Holmenkollen . . . women's results
Norway's Anette Sagen (L), jumped 128 and 122 meters to win the final meet of the first Ladies' Continental Cup jumping (LCOC) season, and to become its first overall champion. Lindsey Van, USA, finished 2nd for this meet and for the year. Jessica Jerome flew to 3rd in this event, and finished the season ranked 5th. Alissa Johnson, USA, was 9th in Oslo, and ranked 9th for the season. Read Coach Casey Colby's comments via link at right. Photo of Anette Sagen (left) © VG.NO

We want to congratulate the US women's team for a wonderful season; it began on their home hill in Park City last July. Pictured here are Lindsey Van (L), Jessica Jerome (C), and Alissa Johnson (R). We also want to recognize Karla Keck and Brenna Ellis, who competed for the US in all events through February. Read more about these athletes and their organization at www.womensskijumpingusa.com. Congratulations to Anette Sagen of Norway for her championship in this first season of the Ladies' Continental Cup, and to all the teams and athletes ... there's a lot of emerging talent in women's ski jumping. Finally, thanks to FIS for creating this great series!

Hautamaeki wins men's title at Holmenkollen . . . men's results
Sunday's World Cup competition at the Holmenkollen was won by Finland's Matti Hautamaeki, giving him five wins in a row. He was followed by Norway's Bjoern Einar Romoeren and Germany's Michael Uhrmann. Finland's Janne Ahonen, who clinched the World Cup title Friday night at Lillehammer, finished 18th. No US men competed.

Hannu Manninen wins Sunday's NC Sprint, Lodwick 6th . . . Sun results
Finland's Hannu Manninen won Sunday's Nordic Combined Sprint comp ahead of Norway's Magnus Moan and Germany's Ronny Ackermann at the Holmenkollen. US athlete Todd Lodwick finished 6th, with teammate Bill Demong 23rd.  Manninen wins the season NC title, with Ackermann 2nd. Austria's Felix Gottwald winds up third, nine points ahead of Lodwick, who finishes fourth in season standings, his eighth consecutive season in the top eight in his sport!

Magnus Moan wins Saturday's NC, US skiers 20th, 21st . . . Sat results
On Saturday, Moan was the winner with Manninen 2nd and Ackermann 3rd. Demong was 20th, and Lodwick was 21st.

Junior Olympics - Final Results Posted
US & Canadian athletes competed in Steamboat Springs Mar 2-5
        Team Jump Men     Team Jump Women     Target Jumping     Indiv Jumping
        Team Nordic Combined     Men's Nordic Combined     Women's Nordic Combined
The Junior Olympics featured top junior athletes (ages 14-15) from the US & Canada. Men's & women's TEAM jumping competitions were held Wednesday March 3, along with the Nordic Combined TEAM event. Individual jumping, plus men's & women's individual Nordic Combined, were held Saturday March 5.  Links to results ABOVE!

On Thursday March 4, a "target" jumping event was featured for the first time as a JO event. This is purely a distance elimination competition, with no judges or points awarded for technique. This format was introduced in 2004 by the USSA, and it has proven very popular with fans and athletes. The term "target" refers to a predetermined DQ line which skiers may not exceed. Jumpers can choose their starting gate to take as much speed as they wish, but if they exceed the target distance, they're disqualified.

Iron Mountain Continental Cup - Feb 26/27
Bardal takes two again, leads series . . . Saturday   Sunday   Standings
Clear blue skies and moderate weather set the stage for an outstanding day of ski jumping in Iron Mountain, MI on Saturday, as Norway's Anders Bardal won his third consecutive tournament, ahead of Austrians Stefan Thurnbichler and Christian Nagiller. Top US finisher on Saturday was Brian Welch at 18th.

On Sunday, snow hampered visibility, but Bardal again dominated the field, completing a sweep of the four COC meets held in the US this year. Germany's Maximilian Mechler was 2nd on Sunday, with Slovenia's Rok Urbanc 3rd. Anders Johnson, 12th, was the top US skier.

In an unofficial "long standing jump" competition held after the conclusion of Saturday's tournament, Finland's Kalle Keituri flew 146 meters (479 feet). He shares the official hill record of 140 meters (459 feet) with Japan's Masahiko (Happy) Harada. Other long flights in this round were Manuel Fettner, Austria, 141M, Thomas Lobben, Norway, 140.5, Bine Zupan & Rok Urbanc, both of Slovenia, 139.5, and Stefan Thurnbichler, Austria, 138.5 ... there are NO JUDGES in a long standing jump competition.

Check Our "Flight Gear" Shop!
Unique accessories and apparel with a ski jumping theme!
Click the Flight Gear link at left ... in addition to our original SkiJumpingCentral merchandise, we're introducing two new designs ... SkiJumpingUSA and Pigasus, the ski jumping pig, pictured below. He was created by Jarrett Moe, former St Paul jumper, now a coach with NSF in Park City. Why a flying pig? Well, to be a ski jumper requires serious commitment, not only by the athletes, but by their families, coaches, and clubs. To understand the difference between involvement and commitment, think of ham & eggs ... the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed!