February 25, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Saturday is opening day at the 2011 Nordic Ski World Championships at Holmenkollen in Oslo for the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team. Veteran Todd Lodwick comes in as the reigning champion in the normal hill individual event – one of a pair of gold medals he won in Liberec, Czech Republic two years ago.

It will be difficult to match the dominance of the four medals won by the USA in Liberec, or the five in Vancouver a year ago. But jump training has gone well this week and optimism is high.

“Training definitely went in the right direction, said Head Coach Dave Jarrett.  “It’s as good as we’ve jumped all year relative to the field. But anything can happen tomorrow.”

The 106-meter Midstubakken normal hill is a brand new jump and it was the first time for the six U.S. athletes this week. “Everyone had pretty good first jumps and that helps with the confidence,” said Jarrett. “Everyone likes the jump and is ready to go.”

The key in any Nordic combined event is to set yourself up well on the jump so you’re in a good position for starting cross country.
“We have to put ourselves into position in jumping,” added Jarrett. “It’s really going to come down to where everyone is relative to each other.

The four laps through the Holmenkollen cross country stadium will also call for strategy. As was seen in the cross country sprints on Thursday, there are few areas to really pass. “It’s much easier to lead from the front,” said Jarrett. “There’s not really a corner you can slingshot around.”

Lodwick opened the World Championships two years ago with a stunning win in the normal hill event. Now with an Olympic silver in his showcase, he’s back again for an eighth World Championships. And while he won’t come in as the favourite, he will be a contender.

“Todd’s the defending champ on the normal hill and he’s been solid in training,” added Jarrett. “He just needs to keep it on auto pilot and do what he’s been doing in training.”

Ironically, it was on this same venue in 2006 when Lodwick “retired.” But the lure of medals was too strong and he came back for the 2009 Worlds and 2010 Olympics. Now, with two World Championship gold medals and an Olympic silver, he’s back again – this time wearing the defending World Champion’s bib.

The event schedule is changed from Worlds two years ago. Lodwick also won the mass start combined event – a one-time shot that was replaced with a second team event beginning in Oslo. Now, both individual and team events will be held on both the normal (106 meter) and large hills (134 meter).

Saturday’s normal hill opener will be followed by a team event on the same hill Monday.

In addition to Lodwick, the lineup Monday will include 2003 World Champion and three-time Olympic silver medalist Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO), along with 2009 World and 2010 Olympic champion Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) and brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO).

The single round jump starts at 10:00 a.m. Oslo time, with the 10k cross country at 1:30 p.m.