Category Archives: FIS Nordic Combined World Cup

Basketball, Biathlon, Biathlon World Cup, FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup, FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, Freestyle Skiing, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, The Melting Pot, World Championships

The Melting Pot: Lowell Bailey 3rd at Biathlon World Cup in Sprint Event, Jessica Jerome 8th at Ski Jumping World Cup

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Biathlon World Cup – Kontiolahti, Finland

The Biathlon World Cup held some great results for the US on Saturday. Lowell Bailey was the main noisemaker as he was perfect in shooting in the men’s 10km sprint and finished with the bronze! He was only a second back of grabbing the silver. Tim Burke was also strong as he finished 19th, 1:10 back, while Leif Nordgren was 27th, 1:23 back. All three will now be in the men’s 12.5 km pursuit on Sunday with a real chance for another medal as they will all be starting near the front.

In the women’s 7.5km sprint Susan Dunklee was 21 spots better than on Thursday as she finished eighth, within 36 seconds of the winner and 24 seconds of the bronze. Hannah Dreissigacker was 41st with Sara Studebaker in 58th and Annelies Cook in 76th. Dunklee, Dreissigacker, and Studebaker will all be in the women’s 10km pursuit on Sunday with Dunklee in good position to challenge for a medal.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 4:45 AM ET – Men’s 12.5km Pursuit
      • Lowell Bailey
      • Tim Burke
      • Leif Nordgren
    • 6:15 AM ET – Women’s 10km Pursuit
      • Hannah Dreissigacker
      • Susan Dunklee
      • Annelies Cook
      • Sara Studebaker

Nordic Combined World Cup – Falun, Sweden

The final team event of the season was supposed to be held at the Nordic Combined World Cup today but plans changed and instead of the team event the individual event was held today with the team event pushed until Sunday. It was no matter for Taylor Fletcher and Bryan Fletcher as they both knew they would be in action today either way. Taylor Fletcher had the better day of the two with a 24th best jump leaving him 54 seconds back and then a 12th best cross-country time that gave him an 11th place finish for the day, one minute behind the winner. Bryan Fletcher was 44th in the ski jumping and a 17th best cross-country time meant he finished 28th overall.

The team event tomorrow will feature both Taylor and Bryan along with Nick Hendrickson and Brett Denney representing the US.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 7 AM ET – Team Ski Jumping Round
      • Taylor Fletcher
      • Brett Denney
      • Nick Hendrickson
      • Bryan Fletcher
    • 11:45 AM ET – Team 4x5km Cross-Country Round

Freestyle Skiing World Cup – Ski Cross – Are, Sweden

The first of two ski cross events to wrap up the year were held on Saturday. John Teller and Joe Swensson were competing for the US with both advancing from qualifying. Teller kept up the momentum by winning his 1/8 final while Swensson finished last in his heat and was eliminated. Teller won his quarterfinal as well but finished last in the semifinals to end up in the small final. A second place finish in the small final gave him a final finish of sixth place.

The two will try to improve on their Saturday results when the second event is held on Sunday to wrap up the season.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 7 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Qualifying
      • John Teller
      • Joe Swensson
    • 9:20 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Round of 32
    • 9:52 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Quarterfinals
    • 10:12 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Semifinals
    • 10:29 AM ET – Men’s Ski Cross Final

2014 FIBA World Championship for Women Draw – Turkey

The draw was held today for this year’s FIBA World Championship for Women. The tournament will be held from September 27th through the 5th of October in Turkey. The US was drawn into Group D with Serbia, China, and Angola. The US is currently ranked #1 in the world with China 8th, Angola 20th and Serbia 29th. The US won the event in 2010 with only Australia coming within single digits of the US in nine games played. Serbia and Angola were not part of the event in 2010 with China going 0-3 in the group stage before two wins placed them 13th.

The US will start things off with China on September 27th with Serbia to follow the next day and Angola on the 30th. The top team in the group gets a bye into the quarterfinals while the next two teams will be in the first elimination round. The US is on the same side of the bracket with Australia and assuming both won their groups and quarterfinal games they would meet in the semifinals on October 4th.

Schedule:

  • September 27th – USA vs. China – Group D – TBD
  • September 28th – USA vs. Serbia – Group D – TBD
  • September 30th – USA vs. Angola – Group D – TBD

Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup – Falun, Sweden

Jessica Jerome is the only one representing the US this weekend at the Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup and she had a strong day on Saturday. Jerome had a 7th best first jump score of 100.8 and followed it up with a 12th best second jump score of 100.7 as she totaled 201.5 to finish eighth in the overall standings. She’ll compete again on Sunday in what will be the second to last event of the year.

Schedule:

  • March 16th
    • 5 AM ET – First Round/Final Round (Separate Event)
      • Jessica Jerome
Alpine Skiing, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined, Paralympics, Sochi 2014, The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot: US Wins Eight More Paralympic Medals, Newly 19-Year Old Mikaela Shiffrin Set For Final Slalom Event of Year

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Alpine Skiing World Cup – Lenzerheide, Switzerland

The start lists are in for the Alpine Skiing World Cup events for Saturday. Mikaela Shiffrin is the lone US representative in the women’s slalom but she is the favorite every time they hold this event and has already won the season title. In the men’s giant slalom Ted Ligety won the last event held and will be joined in the field by Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 4 AM ET – Women’s Slalom Run 1
      • Mikaela Shiffrin
    • 5 AM ET – Men’s Giant Slalom Run 1
      • Ted Ligety
      • Bode Miller
      • Tim Jitloff
    • 6:30 AM ET – Women’s Slalom Run 2
    • 7:30 AM ET – Men’s Giant Slalom Run 2

Nordic Combined World Cup – Falun, Sweden

The Nordic Combined World Cup is holding their final team event of the year in Falun, Sweden on Saturday. The US is one of 12 countries in the event which will feature teams of four. The US is always strong in the cross-country portion so a strong ski jumping round is what they need to be relevant. Taylor Fletcher will jump first followed by Brett Denney, Nick Hendrickson, and Bryan Fletcher.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 6 AM ET – Team Ski Jumping Round
      • Taylor Fletcher
      • Brett Denney
      • Nick Hendrickson
      • Bryan Fletcher
    • 10:45 AM ET – Team 4x5km Cross-Country Round

2014 Winter Paralympics – Sochi, Russia

The US was very strong at the Paralympics on Friday winning eight medals! The US won a medal in the women’s para snowboard cross when Amy Purdy finished third. Cristina Albert finished fourth for the US and Heidi Jo Duce was fifth to give the US three of the top five. Nicole Roundy finished eighth and Megan Harmon tenth as the US had half of the top ten. In the men’s para snowboard cross the US swept the medal stand! It was Evan Strong barely edging out Michael Shea for gold. The margin was just 0.57 seconds over two runs. Keith Gabel took bronze for the US. The other two US competitors in the field were Tyler Burdick who finished eighth and Daniel Monzo who was 18th.

The 15km men’s biathlon sitting division was stacked with US competitors, but none medaled with Andrew Soule coming closest in fourth, 6.4 seconds behind bronze. Daniel Cnossen was tenth with Sean Halsted 11th as they finished three seconds apart. Jeremy Wagner was 18th, Aaron Pike 19th, and Travis Dodson 21st to round things out for the US. In the standing division Omar Bermejo was 17th while in the visually impaired event Kevin Burton was 12th.

In the women’s super combined Danelle Umstead finished third in the visually impaired division and Stephanie Jallen was third in the standing division to give the US two more medals. Jallen beat out teammate Allison Jones for bronze as Jones finished fourth in the standing division.

In the men’s super combined Mark Bathum was second in the visually impaired division, James Stanton was 13th in the standing division, and Heath Calhoun grabbed a silver for the US in the sitting division.

On Saturday the men will be taking to the slopes for the giant slalom with 11 American men competing. Cross-country skiing will be holding the 4×2.5km mixed relay and the 4×2.5km open relay. I don’t know if the Americans will be involved, no start list is online yet. The cross-country skiing will be on NBCSN live from 3:30-5:30 AM ET.

Finally and perhaps most excitingly Saturday is the ice sledge hockey final. The US is getting a chance for revenge against Russia. The final will be shown LIVE on NBC starting at 12 PM ET.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 1:30 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 1 – Visually Impaired
      • Mark Bathum
    • 1:55 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 1 – Standing
      • James Stanton
      • Ralph Green
      • Jonathan Lujan
      • Joel Hunt
      • Tyler Carter
    • 2 AM ET – Cross-Country Skiing – 4×2.5km Mixed Relay
    • 2:45 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 1 – Sitting
      • Christopher Devlin-Young
      • Heath Calhoun
      • Jasmin Bambur
      • Stephen Lawler
      • Scott Meyer
    • 4 AM ET – Cross-Country Skiing – 4×2.5km Open Relay
    • 5:30 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 2 – Visually Impaired
    • 5:50 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 2 – Standing
    • 6:25 AM ET – Men’s Alpine Skiing – Giant Slalom – Run 2 – Sitting
    • 12 PM ET – Ice Sledge Hockey – Gold Medal Match – USA vs. Russia
Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Biathlon World Cup, FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup, FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, FIS Ski Flying World Championships, FIS Snowboard World Cup, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot: Americans Winning Medals in Alpine Skiing World Cup, Qualifying Well at Snowboard World Cup

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Biathlon World Cup – Kontiolahti, Finland

The Biathlon World Cup had a men’s 10km sprint race and a women’s 7.5km sprint race on Thursday. The top American man in the 10km sprint was Lowell Bailey who finished 29th, 1:29.1 behind the winner. Tim Burke was 35th in the event, 1:32.3 back, while Leif Nordgren was 55th, 2:21.5 back.

In the women’s 7.5km sprint Hannah Dreissigacker and Susan Dunklee went 28th-29th with Dreissigacker about four seconds ahead. Dunklee was 29th and within 1:39 of the winner despite missing four targets. Annelies Cook finished 75th with Sara Studebaker in 80th.

The same athletes who competed on Thursday will compete in another set of sprint races on Saturday. Same distances, 10km for the men and 7.5km for the women, and a chance to rebound quickly from any disappointment on Thursday.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 6:15 AM ET – Men’s 10km Sprint
      • Lowell Bailey
      • Tim Burke
      • Leif Nordgren
    • 8:45 AM ET – Women’s 7.5km Sprint
      • Hannah Dreissigacker
      • Susan Dunklee
      • Annelies Cook
      • Sara Studebaker

Ski Flying World Championships – Harrachov, Czech Republic

The US stay at the Ski Flying World Championships was not a long one. Anders Johnson finished 33rd and Nicholas Fairall 38th in the qualifying round where only the top 30 moved on. Johnson scored a 109.8 which was still well behind the 30th place score of 129.3. Fairall scored a 73.2.

Attention will turn back to the Ski Jumping World Cup where the final stop is set for Planica, Slovakia starting next Thursday. There will be two individual men’s events and a team event in Planica.

Alpine Skiing World Cup – Lenzerheide, Switzerland

The Alpine Skiing World Cup is at its final stop in Lenzerheide, Switzerland and the action has been going on for several days. The downhill events were held on Wednesday and the US grabbed a medal as Ted Lilly finished in a tie for second in the men’s downhill, just 11 hundredths of a second behind the winner. Travis Ganong followed with a strong sixth, 0.52 seconds back and Bode Miller was eighth, 0.62 seconds back. In the women’s downhill Julia Mancuso finished 10th, 1.34 seconds back, while Stacey Cook was 18th and nearly three seconds behind the winner.

The US medaled again on Thursday when the super-g events were held. It came on the men’s side as Bode Miller finished third, 0.57 seconds back. Ted Ligety did well again with a fifth place finish, 1.09 seconds back, while Travis Ganong was ninth and Andrew Weibrecht took a DNF. There were three US women in the women’s super-g and they all finished in a narrow window. Julia Mancuso led the way in tenth, 2.2 seconds back, with Stacey Cook two tenths of a second behind her in 11th and Leanne Smith about a second back in 14th.

Friday was the team event with the US represented by Julia Mancuso, David Chodounsky, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Tim Jitloff. The event involves a series of four head-to-head races between two countries with the team that wins more of the races advancing. Every matchup in the event ended tied two-to-two and went to the tiebreaker of the fastest combined time of the best men’s run and best women’s run in that series. The US won the first two tiebreakers against France (by 1.02 seconds) and against Austria (by 0.39 seconds) to advance to the final. In the final they lost to Switzerland by 0.14 seconds.

Saturday will be the men’s giant slalom and the women’s slalom events. I’ll have an update on who will start those events for the US later on Friday.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 3 AM ET – Women’s Slalom Run 1
    • 4 AM ET – Men’s Giant Slalom Run 1
    • 5:30 AM ET – Women’s Slalom Run 2
    • 6:30 AM ET – Men’s Giant Slalom Run 2

Nordic Combined World Cup – Falun, Sweden

The Nordic Combined World Cup is at the final stop in Falun, Sweden and set to host a team and an individual event there this weekend. Friday was the provisional competition round with four American vying for spots in the main event. Two of them made it: Taylor Fletcher in 24th and Bryan Fletcher in 44th. Brett Denney came oh so close with a 51st place finish and missed out on the 50th spot by 0.4 points. Nick Hendrickson was further off the pace in 62nd and missed out by 7.6 points.

There aren’t any details on which teams will compete on Saturday yet but I would assume the US will be represented. I’ll have a further update on that later in the day.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 6 AM ET – Team Ski Jumping Round
    • 10:45 AM ET – Team 4x5km Cross-Country Round

Snowboard World Cup – La Molina, Spain

The Snowboard World Cup is at the final stop in Lo Molina, Spain where a snowboard cross competition in underway. In the qualifying runs on Friday American Lindsey Jacobellis was the fastest and will have the #1 seed for the knockout rounds tomorrow. In the men’s event Mick Dierdorff was fourth, Nick Baumgartner tenth, Hagen Kearney 12th, and Jonathan Cheever 15th as they all qualified after the first run. Ross Andrews was the only other American in the field and he failed to qualify after finishing 40th.

Schedule:

  • March 15th
    • 5:30 AM ET – Men’s Finals
      • Nick Baumgartner
      • Jonathan Cheever
      • Hagen Kearney
      • Mick Dierdorff
    • 5:30 AM ET – Women’s Finals
      • Lindsey Jacobellis
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Taylor Fletcher in 22nd Leads Pair of Top-30 Americans in Nordic Combined World Cup Event in Oslo

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Previous Trondheim – FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Coverage

Well it wasn’t quite the 10th place finish that Bill Demong achieved earlier in the week but the US was respectable on Saturday. Taylor Fletcher was the top American in 22nd and was joined by Demong in the top 30 after Demong used a strong cross-country time to move up from 38th. Bryan Fletcher in 36th and Nick Hendrickson (47th) rounded out the field for the US.

Oslo - Large Hill-10km

The Nordic Combined World Cup is now headed for the final weekend of competition. Falun, Sweden will host things as a team competition will be contested on Saturday, March 15th and an individual event is scheduled for that Sunday. WeSupportTheUS.com will have coverage of those events next weekend as the US looks to end the year on a high note.

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Four for Four, All Four Americans Qualify for Saturday’s Nordic Combined World Cup Event in Oslo

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Previous Trondheim – FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Coverage

The Americans continued a strong week in the Nordic combined World Cup by qualifying all four of their athletes for the event in Oslo. Bryan Fletcher led the way with a ninth place jump that is the kind of jump that can make him a medal contender. Bill Demong followed in 29th after a very clean jump while Nick Hendrickson (42nd) and Taylor Fletcher (48th) both weren’t great but did enough to make the field.

Oslo - Provisional Competition Round

It will be interesting to see if the Americans can put up some strong numbers again tomorrow when it will set the start times for the cross-country portion and determine if they are capable of catching the top skiers or not. If the past few days have taught us anything it’s that this is a good spell for them and tomorrow could be very exciting. Visit WeSupportTheUS.com again tomorrow for coverage of tomorrow’s results.

 Schedule:

  • March 8th
    • 4 AM ET – Ski Jumping Round
      • Bill Demong
      • Bryan Fletcher
      • Taylor Fletcher
      • Nick Hendrickson
    • 9:45 AM ET – 10km Cross-Country Round
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Fantastic Cross-Country Skiing For US Results in 10th Place Finish by Bill Demong at Nordic Combined World Cup in Trondheim

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Previous Trondheim – FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Coverage

Yesterday we talked about how a strong jump by Bill Demong could put him in contention due to the US strength in the cross-country portion. A 20th place finish was a strong enough jump to put Demong into the mix and he overcame a full a second of deficit to finish in 10th, 19.1 seconds behind the winner and less than nine seconds behind third! Demong’s cross-country portion was fourth fastest in the field with fellow American Taylor Fletcher topping that with the fastest time. Unfortunately a 47th place finish on Fletcher’s jump meant he only rose as high as 23rd in the final standings.

Trondheim - Large Hill-10km

Tomorrow the men will travel the nearly 300 miles South to Oslo to start the next World Cup event. The provisional competition round will be held to narrow the field down for Saturday’s main event. I’m expecting the same four men who began the PCR in Trondheim (Nick Hendrickson, Taylor Fletcher, Bill Demong, and Bryan Fletcher) to begin this event as well but no official start list has been released.

 Schedule:

  • March 7th
    • 9 AM ET – Provisional Competition Round – Ski Jumping
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Taylor Fletcher, Bill Demong, and Bryan Fletcher All Advance to Nordic Combined World Cup Event in Trondheim

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Previous Trondheim – FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Coverage

It was a good day in Trondheim for the US nordic combined athletes as three of the four made it to the main competition tomorrow. Bill Demong had a great jump today scoring a nice 112.2 total and placing 15th. If he could have a jump like that tomorrow he might be close enough to make some noise in the cross-country half. Bryan Fletcher had a really nice jump as well in 24th while Taylor Fletcher qualified in 47th. Nick Hendrickson missed out on qualifying after finishing in 54th and falling 3.3 points short of 50th.

Trondheim - Provisional Competition Round

Tomorrow the 50 men who qualified with start with ski jumping and follow that up with a 10km cross-country portion. The US traditionally is stronger at the cross-country half so a strong jump could make things interesting. Visit WeSupportTheUS.com tomorrow night for a recap of the event and a preview of the start of the next event in Oslo which will kick off with a provisional competition round on Thursday.

 Schedule:

  • March 6th
    • 8 AM ET – Large Hill Ski Jumping
      • Taylor Fletcher
      • Bill Demong
      • Bryan Fletcher
    • 10:45 AM ET – 10km Cross Country
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Four US Men Vying for Spots in Nordic World Cup Event Thursday in Trondheim, Norway

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Previous FIS Nordic World Cup Coverage

Four US men will participate in a ski jumping qualification round at the Nordic World Cup stop in Trondheim, Norway hoping to qualify for the main event tomorrow. Bryan Fletcher made it to the main event in the last stop at Lahti while Taylor Fletcher and Nick Hendrickson failed to qualify. Bill Demong will be taking part in this event after missing out on the last one.

60 men will be jumping with 50 spots in tomorrow’s event up for grabs. Check back to WeSupportTheUS.com this evening to see how the US men did and who’s in the main event tomorrow.

 Schedule:

  • March 5th
    • 12 PM ET – Qualification Ski Jumping Round
      • Nick Hendrickson
      • Taylor Fletcher
      • Bill Demong
      • Bryan Fletcher
FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

Bryan and Taylor Fletcher Finish 14th in Nordic Combined World Cup Team Event in Lahti

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Previous Lahti – FIS Nordic World Cup Coverage

Two US teams took part in the team event on Saturday. Bryan Fletcher and Taylor Fletcher were the better performing of the teams placing 14th in the ski jumping portion after a low score from Taylor of 67.4. They were much stronger in the cross-country finishing in eighth and finishing about as far behind the winners as they started the cross-country portion. Adam Loomis and Nick Hendrickson placed 19th in both the ski jumping and the cross-country with almost a five minute gap from them to the winners by the end of the relay.

Lahti - Team Large Hill-2x7.5km

This marks the end of the Nordic Combined event in Lahti but it won’t be long until they are back in action. The next World Cup stop is in Trondheim, Norway and will be held on Thursday, March 6th, with another event in Oslo, Norway on Saturday, March 8th. The next and final team event is in Falun, Sweden on Saturday, March 15th.

 

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, Nordic Combined

A 34th Place Finish for Bryan Fletcher at the Nordic World Cup Event in Lahti, Two Duos in Team Event on Saturday

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Previous Lahti – FIS Nordic World Cup Coverage

The only American in the field for the main event at the FIS Norid World Cup event in Lahti was Bryan Fletcher. Fletcher placed 37th in the ski jumping potion to leave himself 2:18 behind the leader at the start of the cross-country half. Fletcher was 27th in the cross-country and lost a little time on the top spot as he ended up 34th with a time of 27:12.1 and finishing 2:44.3 behind the winner, Johannes Rydzek of Germany.

Lahti - Large Hill-10km
There will be a team event on Saturday featuring 20 teams of two. Each team will take jumps and then there will be a 2×7.5km cross-country portion. The US has two teams in the event, Adam Loomis and Nick Hendrickson, and Bryan Fletcher and Taylor Fletcher.

Schedule:

  • March 1st
    • 5 AM ET – Team Ski Jumping Round
      • Adam Loomis and Nick Hendrickson
    • 9:15 AM ET – Cross-Country 2×7.5km Round
      • Bryan Fletcher and Taylor Fletcher