September 7, 2008 (Lillehammer, Norway) – U.S. Nordic Combined athlete Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) took another step in his comeback, winning a hill climb in front of a huge crowd in Norway. “It was a really exciting competition with the street in Lillehammer jammed with people watching the race,” said Nordic Combined Head Coach Dave Jarrett.

The hill climb, which is the most recent stop in a series of summer competitions that the U.S Nordic Combined Ski Team is participating in, consisted of 31 heats of two skiers each skiing up a 200m course. The heats were then cut to 16, 8, four and the final.

The semi final round put Lodwick, who is traveling with the U.S. Team, against the event’s three time defending champion Magnus Moan of Norway. “Todd didn’t have the best start but was able to beat Magnus and get a spot in the finals,” Jarrett said.

The final had Lodwick pitted against Norwegian Haavard Klemetsten and, according to Jarrett, was intensely close until the end. “It was a tight race until about 25m when Todd separated himself from Haavard. From that point Todd was clearly going to win and coasted into the finish for the victory,” Jarrett said.

Team athletes Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) and Alex Glueck (Steamboat Springs, CO) also competed in the hill climb, but were eliminated in the round of 16 in head to head sprints.

The team competes in jumping on Sunday, the first jump of which will determine the nordic combined winner from Saturday’s hill climb and the second will set up the combined results for a 10km roller ski race.

Currently, the team is in Norway for a summer camp that includes athletes both from the national team and from the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club who have qualified to attend.