I am now off to Chaykovsky, Russia for my first World Cup of the season! I am really excited to compete in a new country and at a new venue.
Happy New Year!!!
This past weekend, I competed in my first Olympic Trials in Park City. The atmosphere was incredible. Over a thousand of spectators showed up and NBC was there to televise the competitions. It almost felt like I was back at the Olympic games in 2002! There were a total of 10 athletes gunning for the first chance to make it to Sochi, Russia in February (winner of OT automatically qualifies for the Olympics). Saturday morning, I had another hard time on the ski jump and disappointedly jumped into 9th place, over 2 minutes back from the leader, and five time Olympian, Todd Lodwick. The cross country race however went much better. My official time back from Lodwick was 2:32 but started in a "bus" start. This means that everyone that is supposed to start after 2 minutes actually starts in a wave at 2 minutes. Because I my official time was 2:32, I would have to beat everyone I passed by at least 32 seconds. I skied a strong race and caught three skiers but could not beat two of them by 32 seconds. I ended up 8th overall with the 5th fastest cross country time. I know now that I can ski with the best in the world, but need to work harder on my ski jumping so that I actually have a chance of making the podium. Todd Lodwick ended up winning the event earning him the first spot on the nordic combined Olympic team. Sochi will be Todd's 6th Olympics!
I am now off to Chaykovsky, Russia for my first World Cup of the season! I am really excited to compete in a new country and at a new venue. Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone is having a great start to winter and Happy Holidays! I am excited to fill you in on my travels and training.
The winter ski jumping started in November. Park City was the first ski jump in the world open for jumping on snow! My jumping had not been up to par during the summer but once we were on snow, it turned around. I was extremely happy with the improvements. I spent Thanksgiving with family in Tacoma, Washington. I returned to Park City on Friday to prepare for the Winter Start competition in Steamboat Springs. Unfortunately Park City lost a lot of snow due to warm weather and there was no way to cross country ski. I drove to Steamboat where they had plenty of snow. I spent the whole week cross country skiing and jumping with the National Training Group. It was really fun being able to train in my 'second” home town. The conditions were great; however the temperatures during the week dropped into the negatives and it made training tougher. When the weekend came around, the temperatures were on the rise. Saturday was my first nordic combined competition of the season. Unfortunately, my jump didn't go well and I ended up starting in 11th for the cross country race. I had a mediocre race and skied up to 6th place. The following day my jump was a little better and I started the cross country portion in 7th and skied up to 3rd place, right behind U. S. Ski teammates Nick Hendrickson and Adam Loomis. This was a good competition to “get the cobwebs out” I traveled back to Park City to prepare for the first Continental Cup of the season Dec. 17-19. A total of 48 athletes representing 12 countries were in attendance. U.S. Teammate Bill Demong flew back from Europe to compete and dominated the week. He finished 1st. Nick and Adam also had some great results and both finished in the top 20 overall. National Training Group athlete Ben Berend was the skier of the week. Last year he struggled to score Continental Cup points, but in the first competition he finished 12th! The following day he continued to score points. He finished the week 22nd overall. I struggled on the jump and had two 25th place finishes. I was really frustrated because my jumping had been going really well but I couldn't find the same feeling during competition. After the competition I went home to Aspen for Christmas with my family. I had a great time in Aspen, skiing with friends and family. I alpine skied Alpine and couple cross country every day. On my birthday I skied with the Aspen Valley Ski Club nordic team. We went for an easy cross country ski and worked on balance and transitions. I had a great time skiing with the kids. I predict the team includes a few future ski team athletes in the making. I had a great week with my family and friends. It was good to take my mind off of jumping. Now I am back in Park City to compete at the Olympic Trials on December 28th. There will be 10 athletes including myself vying for a spot on the US Olympic Team. You might want to watch the Olympic Qualifiers for both Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping on Sunday, December 29th at 11:30 a.m. MT on NBC. I'll keep you posted. Happy New Year's to all! |
Michael WardHi! My name is Michael Ward. I am a 23 year old from Aspen, CO now living in Park City, UT to continue my career as a Nordic Combined athlete. I am on the 2015-16 US Nordic Combined Team and am honored to live and train with the best in the world. Archives
February 2016
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