August 23, 2003 (VILLACH, Austria) – Three-time Olympian Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) took charge in the final sprint Friday night and  edged Germany's Jens Gaiser to win the opening nordic combined Summer Grand  Prix event by 1.8 seconds.

Lodwick, second in jumping on Villach's  90-meter hill, started two minutes behind Austrian David Zauner in the 15-km  inline skating race. However, Zauner is not a strong skater and Lodwick eventually settled into a race with Austrian Christoph Eugen and Gaiser, who were fourth and fifth in jumping and started 16 and 20 seconds back of Lodwick.

“They skied together and then Todd, who's learning the tactics in this kind of a race, took them at the end,” said Head Coach Bard Elden. “He's been really consistent all summer he's been at a good, average level with his jumping [in training at Utah Olympic Park] and he was again today despite the winds.”

Lodwick beat Gaiser by 1.8 seconds with Eugen 5.2 seconds back. No one else was within 95 seconds of Lodwick. Carl Van Loan (Webster, NH) had the 10th-fastest time and moved up to 22nd overall  in the field of 51, finishing 3:18.8 out. Johnny Spillane (also Steamboat)  was 17th in jumping and finished 23rd, 3:32.1 behind Lodwick. Bill Demong  (Vermontville, NY), in his first competition since fracturing a skull after  the opening Grand Prix event a year ago, finished 46th, five minutes off the  pace.

“The weather was back and forth. Some people got good wind, some didn't, but overall the [jumping] competition wasn't that far off what had been happening in training,” Lodwick said. “There's a lot of strategy involved, just like a bike race, but the people who are in shape can do well. This was nice…a good confirmation for what I've been doing.”

Elden added, “This [victory] is a nice bonus for us. We don't train with inline skates, so I don't get too concerned about the racing part in these Grand  Prix events. We come here to see the level of our jumping. Rollerblading is a completely different technique from cross country, so we don't do it at all, except when we come to the Grand Prix.”

The four-event Grand Prix resumes Sunday in Oberhof, Germany; Elden said Nathan Gerhart (Steamboat Springs, CO) would replace Van Loan on the Ski Team's four-man quota for each Grand Prix. The U.S. combiners plan to leave the Grand Prix after Sunday's competition and will spend the next week training on snow in Switzerland.