Fletcher 17th in Final Individual Olympic Event
Skiing in his final individual Olympic event, Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) put in another strong performance to finish 17th in the large hill nordic combined event. Germany swept the podium in a race that came right down to the wire with Johannes Rydzek leading the charge to take gold.
Fletcher soared 120.5 meters to finish 23rd in the jump, starting two minutes, four seconds behind jump leader Akito Watabe, who ended up fifth.
“I put together a pretty decent jump,” said Fletcher. “It wasn’t the dream jump I had been hoping for but a solid performance. It put me into the chase group to give me a chance for a top 10 if I had a really good race.”
His jump finish put him in a good position for the 10k cross country.
“There were a bunch of strong skiers around me so I expected it to pack up pretty strong,” he said. “I think I led a bit too much in the first three laps to be able to close the race with a good sprint. But I went out and had fun and just enjoyed the moment being my last individual Olympic race - just trying to enjoy that hurt locker a bit.”
The Germans all started 24-34 seconds back, working together to move up through the pack and take on Watabe and Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber, catching them on the final lap.
Fletcher’s finish matched his 17th in the normal hill event last week - both Olympic bests.
“This Games has been cool for me,” he said. “In the past Olympics, it was such a cool experience to compete alongside Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane, and my brother. I’m really happy with how we’ve turned around nordic combined the last few years and building a development pipeline. I’m happy to be leading that program and seeing it out over the next few years.”
In his first Olympic start, Ben Berend (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) was 39th with Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, Wisc.) 40th, and Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) 43rd.
“Those young guys are full of energy and passion for the sport,” said Fletcher. “I remember when I was that age in their shoes. It’s cool to be heading out of my career and watching theirs just taking off. Mentoring them a little bit the last few years has been really special. I hope they can go on to do great things.”
Competition wraps up with the team event on Thursday.
RESULTS
Gundersen LH HS140/10k