LILLEHAMMER, Norway (Feb. 16, 2016) – The USA’s Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, WI/Flying Eagles Ski Club) parlayed a strong jump into a silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games individual nordic combined Tuesday in Lillehammer. Germany’s Tim Kopp took gold.
Loomis set himself up for success, jumping to second with a 98.5 meter ride, starting just eight seconds behind Kopp.
“It’s great to set yourself up with a good jump and not have to worry going into the cross country race,” Loomis said. “I was just really focused. I was able to think about exactly what I had to do and I did it perfectly – it was my best jump of the week.”
In the 5k cross country race, Loomis closed the gap quickly, taking the lead and battling together with Kopp and the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Pazout for the medals.
“I caught Tim pretty quickly – I was just trying to get up to be able to ski with him,” Loomis said. “We went back and forth for three k’s before Ondrej caught us and we stuck together until 4.5k. Then Tim was able to hammer over the top of the hill. It was good to stay with those guys. I went as hard as I could but didn’t have it in me.”
(From Tom Kelly- USSA)
