Dave Jarrett, Assistant Coach - Nordic Combined

February 23, 2006
Torino ITA

As far as a wrap up goes, our goal for the Nordic Combined Team was to win at least 1 medal. We thought this a high goal but yet attainable. The individual event was ok, looking back at the way Bill and Todd raced they were both 1 good jump away in the 2nd round from at least being in a position to race for a medal. Johnny was also close in the small hill but was closer in the big hill. Brett got his first Olympic start and performed as well as he was training and that is about all we could ask for from him.

The Team event didn't go nearly as well as we had hoped. We knew after training that we had 3 guys who were capable of being right up there and unfortunately our 4th guy was a bit behind. In order for us to have a chance at fighting for a medal we needed our 3 top guys to be awesome that day and the fourth guy, whomever it was, to be better than their average training. I have to say that neither of these things came to be, and when that happens in the Olympics you are watching the other teams race for the medals.

The Sprint competition was our last chance. Again, we felt we had 3 guys who when they jumped well would be right up there after jumping with a chance in the race to take home some hardware. Johnny and Todd simply didn't jump as well they had in training in their comp jump and ended up a few meters too short to really fight for a medal. Bill had one of the most technically good jumps in the all the training and comp jumps but was really unlucky with the wind as they gave him a green light at the very minimum allowed head wind. Eric jumped better in the competition than he did in almost all training sessions which is all you can ask of him. The race was good for both Todd and Johnny. A few more meters on the jump and they would have been fighting for a medal. Bill's plan was to open as hard as he could and see what happened. He certaininly did this and couldn't maintain the pace and fell off on the last 2.5km loop. Eric did an ok race and finished in the top 40 in his first Olympic event.

Going into the Olympics we felt confident in our form and our training. In order to win a medal at the Olympics alot of things need to go right for you on that one day of the year. The Olympics are just that, one competition on one day and the heavy favorites from the World Cup don't always win. Look at Manninen, Ackermann, and Ahonen to name a few. We are very proud of our athletes and are already working on how to improve.

November 11, 2005
Park City UT

Outlook for 2005-2006 Olympic Season for Nordic Combined

We have had another solid summer of training. We have done things a little differently this summer than in the past. First we operated as one national team consisting of 8 athletes and 3 coaches. We did all of our training together and we (coaches) feel that with 8 athletes who are competing with each other on a daily basis has raised our overall level. Second, we made some significant tweaks to the training program which we feel will pay dividends.

Our season begins with Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane, and Bill Demong at the World Cup A in Kuusamo Nov 25-26 while Carl Van Loan, Eric Camerota, Brett Camerota, Jed Hinkley, and Alex Glueck will start the season in World Cup B which will begin in Steamboat on Dec 10-11. After the first period we hope to have at least 5 athletes on WCA and will compete in 3 World Cups after Christmas. We will return home for the Nationals and then leave for the Olympics January 24th.

We will keep you up to date as the season begins. At the moment, it seems like summer here in Park City and Steamboat. Hopefully we will get some snow and cold temps to get the jumps ready ASAP.

October 1, 2005
Park City UT

We are currently in Park City for the Continental Cups this weekend. We have been back in PC since the beginning of September and will be heading to LP next week for another training camp and more COCJ competitions. It is great for us to be able to compete in these special jumping competitions as it gives us a contact with Europeans without having to travel to Europe. While we are in LP we will also do our 4th high intensity XC camp. We will return from LP on the 13th and hopefully finish our summer jumping season here in PC on October 20th. We have one more physical testing session on the treadmill and force platform at the end of October.

The results have been very good this summer and the boys have been working hard. We will be looking for snow to start XC skiing ASAP and weather permitting start jumping the first week or two of November.

More updates to come!

August 28, 2005
Ramsau AUT

Just a quick update from USA Nordic Combined. We arrived in Europe for the Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix last Tuesday, with Todd Lodwick, Bill Demong, Carl Van Loan, Jed Hinkley, and Eric Camerota. Johnny Spillane remained at home, rehabbing his shoulder with head coach Baard Elden. Brett Camerota and Alex Glueck are also training in the States.

We went directly to Meininger and had new suits made according to the new rules and were prepared to go to Oberstdorf to begin our SuGP this weekend. However, due to heavy rains there has been extensive flooding in Oberstdorf and our comps were cancelled. We made a quick change of plans and are have been training in Hinterzarten, Germany. We will leave tomorrow for Berchtesgaden, Germany for our first comp on Wednesday. We have another comp on Friday in Bischofshofen, then two more in Oberhof over the weekend. Our training camp here has been great and the new suit rules don't seem to change too much either.

2004-2005 Season Archive

 
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