Nordic Combined: Silver to Jan Schmid

February 22, 2009

Jan Schmid. Photo: www.skiforbundet.no

Todd Lodwick of the United States won a Nordic combined event Feb. 22 for his second straight gold at the Nordic skiing world championships. He pulled away from Jan Schmid from Trondheim, Norway in the final uphill portion of the course. This was the first medal for Norway in Nordic Combined at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec.

Lodwick and Schmid formed a two-man group for the last 4 miles of the 10K freestyle race. Lodwick started with a 2-second advantage after leading the ski jump. The 32-year-old Lodwick came out of retirement last year to aim for a world championship or Olympic title.

Lodwick finished in 24 minutes, 22.3 seconds, with Schmid 13 seconds behind and American Bill Demong in third.

Schmid (26), whose parents are Swiss citizens, has taken part in two Winter Olympic games and two World Championships for Switzerland. He transfered to the Norwegian Ski Federation in 2006.