|
 |
U.S. nordic team just misses medals
Team 4th and sprinters 5th — both are bests
By Jason Swensen
Deseret News Olympic specialist
SOLDIER HOLLOW — A trip to the NCAA Final Four can define a college basketball coach's career. Finish in this year's PGA top-5 money list and your grandkids will never worry about finding cash for college.
But fourth or fifth doesn't always feel good in the Olympics. Indeed, the 2002 Games again demonstrated the harsh Olympic food chain: gold, silver, bronze — then all the rest.
Team USA's nordic combined squad knows the Olympic class struggle all too well. The squad recorded its best ever Olympic results with fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the team and sprint competitions, respectively. Still, no Yanks could squeeze onto that elite medal Olympic podium in 2002.
The pain of missing out on a medal or two will likely linger awhile for top U.S. nordic combiners — but a little perspective may soothe the ache.
Remember, four years ago Team USA finished 10th in the Olympic team event. In 2002 the team finished just seconds behind the medal winners. Team leader Todd Lodwick's best individual Olympic performance prior to Salt Lake City was 13th in Lillehammer. On Friday, Lodwick battled World Cup champ Felix Gottwald for the bronze until the final moments of the individual sprint event.
Indeed, Team USA has followed a progress path that suggests a prosperous Olympic future.
"We got the best (Olympic) result ever over the past 100 years, so you've got to keep smiling," said U.S. nordic combined coach Tom Steitz.
Steitz knows breaking into the nordic combined elite won't be easy, especially when the elite are also improving. Lodwick says the sport "is at its pinnacle." Gone are days when a mediocre jumper could turn on the cross country jets and ski to the podium. Finland's Samppa Lajunen, for example, first landed monster jumps before enlisting solid cross country skiing to sweep three 2002 Olympic gold medals.
"You cannot win competitions if you're are not good in both — that takes a lot of work, a lot of training," said Lajunen after winning Friday's sprint event.
Finding that balance between jumping and cross country skiing continues to be the focus of Team USA's training and preparation. America's best nordic combiners are based out of Steamboat Springs, Colo. But Steamboat's historic Howelson Hill ski jumps can't compare with the Utah Olympic Park facility — so expect the team to spend a good chunk of future training periods in the Beehive State.
Steitz expects the core of the 2002 team to be back for the 2006 Games in Italy. While the current squad has a distinctive Colorado flavor, future teams may include a Utah athlete or two who grew up jumping at UOP and racing on Soldier Hollow's high-altitude cross country hills.
U.S. athletes from low-profile winter sports such as nordic combined always share a dual task: performing well and selling their sport to American sports fans. Steitz says his guys did both in Salt Lake City.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
|
|
February 25, 2002
|
