As for the team in Norway, we had a rough weekend. Yesterday the conditions were very tough. It was snowing very hard and pretty windy. After sending about 20 athletes, the FIS organizers decided to cancel the jumping and use the PCR jump from Friday. I started the race 2:40 back from the leaders and 40 seconds back from points (30th place). I knew I would be capable of skiing into points if I stayed relaxed and skied my own race. During the race I slowly moved up places and going into the last lap I was around 25th place. Unfortunately I broke my pole and lost a lot of time and ended up 36th. I was really frustrated and but was looking forward to Sunday to put in a good result. We had great conditions today on the jump but I was not able to capitalize on the opportunity and had a poor result on the hill. The cross country race went much better today but I was too far behind to move up places. I finished 40th. My other teammates had a hard time on the jump hill as well and, like me, were unable to score COC points this weekend.
Well the U.S. Nordic Combined team had it's ups and downs this weekend. My teammates at the World Cup in Chaux Neuve, France had a spectacular weekend. Taylor Fletcher led the way for the U.S. with an incredible 5th place finish today. Bryan Fletcher took 20th the first day and 8th today. Finally, Adam Loomis scored his first World Cup points of his career, finishing 21st yesterday. It is great to see his hard work pay off. As for the team in Norway, we had a rough weekend. Yesterday the conditions were very tough. It was snowing very hard and pretty windy. After sending about 20 athletes, the FIS organizers decided to cancel the jumping and use the PCR jump from Friday. I started the race 2:40 back from the leaders and 40 seconds back from points (30th place). I knew I would be capable of skiing into points if I stayed relaxed and skied my own race. During the race I slowly moved up places and going into the last lap I was around 25th place. Unfortunately I broke my pole and lost a lot of time and ended up 36th. I was really frustrated and but was looking forward to Sunday to put in a good result. We had great conditions today on the jump but I was not able to capitalize on the opportunity and had a poor result on the hill. The cross country race went much better today but I was too far behind to move up places. I finished 40th. My other teammates had a hard time on the jump hill as well and, like me, were unable to score COC points this weekend. We are all pretty upset with our results but ready to make some changes before next weekend's COC in Falun, Sweden. I have never been to Falun so I am really excited to jump a new hill and to try and improve my results. I will keep you updated! Hope everyone had a happy holidays!
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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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