SCHUMANN 10TH IN NORDIC COMBINED 10KM
SOLDIER HOLLOW, Utah (Jan. 31, 2017) – Finland’s Arttu Mäkiaho skied up from ninth after the jump to take gold in the opening 10k nordic combined event at the USANA FIS Junior Nordic World Championships. Maekiahowas followed by Austria’s Mika Vermeulen who took silver. Germany’s Martin Hahn took bronze.
“This was the event I really wanted to do well in,” Schumann is quoted in a Fasterskier article. “This course suited me with the amount of climbing in it. … Going into the jumping I knew I was going to need a good jump to have a chance. Then if I had the jump I needed I knew I was going to need to race fast to stay in the running.”
And race fast he did. Schumann posted the fifth fastest cross country time. He hung with Austria’s Vermeulen, the fastest skier of the day, to make up some of the places.
“I skied with [Vermeulen] for about a lap or two and then he took off,” Schumann said. “After he was gone I was able to settle into my own pace and keep picking people off in front of me. Going into the fourth lap I knew I was leading a train with some fast skiers so I tried to pick up the pace and space it out. This worked and and I was able to drop some other athletes but I was still in a group with three or four skiers so I sprinted as hard as I could over the last hill and managed to give myself some room over the finishing stretch. Overall I felt good and was able to pull in 18 people in front of me which I was extremely happy with.”
“I was very happy to have a good race and have my family and friends there to see it,” Schumann wrote to Fasterskier. “But there is still one more individual event and a team event, so I’m still hoping to improve on the tenth place from today. As well as have a good race as a team and improve on our 6th place result from last year.”
PARK CITY, UT (Feb. 1, 2017) – Viktor Polasek of the Czech Republic and Manuela Malsiner of Italy took top honors in the men and women’s HS100-meter ski jumping at the USANA FIS Nordic Junior World Championships Wednesday at the Utah Olympic Park.
Rounding out the podium for the men were Alex Insam of Italy in second and Germany’s Constantin Schmid in third. For the women, Slovenia’s Ema Klinec was second and Nika Kriznar was third.
It was a banner day for American Casey Larson (Barrington, IL) of the Norge Ski Club outside Chicago. Larson soared to sixth after the first round with a 92.5 meter ride. In the final round, he went 92.0 meters and dropped down to eighth overall – one spot away from the American Junior Worlds men’s record held by U.S. Coach Clint Jones from 2002.
In the women’s event, Gabby Armstrong (Lake Placid, NY) of the New York Ski Education Foundation was 37th.
Competition continues Friday with the team event, followed by the mixed gender team event on Sunday.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Viktor Polasek of the Czech Republic flew 97 meters to win the men’s HS100-meter Wednesday at the Utah Olympic Park.
- Manuela Malsiner of Italy soared 95.5 meters to win the women’s HS100-meter Wednesday at the Utah Olympic Park.
- Casey Larson was the top U.S. finisher for the men in eighth – one spot away from the American record at Junior Worlds.
QUOTES
Casey Larson
I definitely felt pretty good, honestly. The trainings were around there so I just kind of hoped I could have my best jump and then I can’t worry about what place I’m in after that just because I know I’ll be happy. I put down two solid jumps that I was really pumped about so I really can’t complain about anything today.
This hill is definitely funky and different from a lot of hills in Europe or the Midwest where I am from. But we know it super well, us Americans, because we are out here all Summer most of us, so I felt confident on the hill and I think we had a leg up in that respect.
There’s a couple competitions left so I just want to keep that groove going and not try too hard and let it flow.
Listen to the full interview from Casey here.
1 Comment
Congrats US!!! A special pride for our midwest jumpers. Seeing you all come up through the smaller hills and club tournaments, we are all so proud of each of you!!! You are great examples for our younger jumpers on the way up, too.