November 14, 2005 – Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO), who turns 29 on Nov. 21, is the most successful nordic combined (ski jumping and cross country racing) skier in U.S. history. He’s won six World Cup events, a record eight U.S. combined championships and a record-tying seven jumping titles. In his 13th season on the U.S. Ski Team, he says this will be his last, that it’s time for other pursuits…including fatherhood (he and wife Sunny are expecting a girl Jan. 1). He discussed his final season with USSA Senior Correspondent Paul Robbins. Photo by Getty Images, Doug Pensinger

USSA: So, this looks like your farewell tour winter. You could be going out as only the second American combiner to compete in four Olympics. You sure it’s over?
Todd Lodwick: Yeah, I believe this’ll be it. It’s been a long haul, 13 years with the Ski Team and six, eight, 10 years before that – the only thing I’ve done since I was a kid, and it’s time for something different. Don’t ask me what.

USSA: You had a strong jumping background and you went back and forth – jumping, combined, jumping, finally back to combined; what was the appeal of nordic combined?
TL: Well, a couple of things. I got along better with the combined guys than in jumping…and Tom [Steitz, former U.S. head coach] saw my potential early. Tom was a big influence…still is. But, really, combined just kinda fit me better than jumping. I thought there was more of a work ethic – two sports, you had to work twice as hard. And, in the end, my big brother, Kris, was in combined and that kinda sealed the deal for me.

USSA: You’ve said you feel like you’re five years younger. After 12 seasons on the Ski Team, did you change your preseason training?
TL: Well, we have a new house, even though it was built in the 1950s, it’s new for us…and I’ve spent a lot of time working here. In the basement, the kitchen, all that good stuff…I know my way around a hammer.

USSA: So, that’s the key? We should issue more hammers to the team and buy a couple of houses to re-do? Not worry about jumping or cross country training?
TL: [Laughter] Hey, if it works…well, no, but it seems like the house has taken so much time. There hasn’t been a lot of time for my usual stuff – golf, hunting, fishing, watching the Broncos on TV. But, after all these years, one good thing is I think I know myself pretty well. And if my jumping’s going well, I think I can pull back on that and bump up the cross [country]. I worked more on my cross country this summer with Tom and I think my technique is better than it’s been in a long time…

USSA: So, your jumping’s pretty solid?
TL: In Lillehammer [Norway – a July training camp], I jumped better than I think I’ve ever jumped. The Norway trip was crazy, and then I kinda sloughed off a little and changed my [jumping] suit, had to adjust to that … and the last trip to Europe [in October], we got some better suits. I jumped well there – in Oberstdorf [Germany] and Innsbruck [Austria}…and then, and this was kinda cool, I finished my summer jumping career in Tams, outside Innsbruck. That’s where I started, where Tom took us on my first trip to Europe in 1992 – with Tim [Tetreault, three-time Olympian] and DJ [Dave Jarrett, two-time Olympian] and Ryan [Heckman, two-time Olympian]. That was definitely cool, finishing where I started.