Nordic Worlds: Demong becomes world champion

American nordic combined skier Bill Demong became a world champion today, wining the individual gundersen event at the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. After finishing the jumping portion of the event in eight place, he surged to a third-place finish in the cross country race and took home the gold. The result marks his second podium of these championships, the first was a third-place finish last Sunday.

Germany’s Bjoern Kircheisen grabbed the silver medal, while Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis rode his lead in the jumping portion to a third-place finish.

Demong’s teammate, two-time gold medalist at these championships, Todd Lodwick finished tenth.

American nordic combined skier Bill Demong became a world champion today, wining the individual gundersen event at the 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. After finishing the jumping portion of the event in eight place, he surged to a third-place finish in the cross country race and took home the gold. The result marks his second podium of these championships, the first was a third-place finish last Sunday.

“It was such a calculated race. I was so wrapped up in the strategy and it was really soft snow so I was concentrating on technique. I didn’t think about what the ramifications were until I looked at the big screen and saw myself in the lead crossing the line,” Demong said.

Germany’s Bjoern Kircheisen grabbed the silver medal, while Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis rode his lead in the jumping portion to a third-place finish.

Demong’s teammate, two-time gold medalist at these championships, Todd Lodwick finished tenth.

Demong came into this the final nordic combined competition of the championships, looking for redemption after the U.S. team was disqualified from Thursday’s team event when he misplaced his starting bib. “I owed it to them,” he said. “Thursday was rough. After it happened it was odd, I actually needed my team’s support. I really felt that I let them down, so today is dedicated to them. They told me to forget about it.”

Demong’s gold marks the fourth for the U.S. at this year’s championships. He adds the world championship to his three World Cup wins this season.

While the gold medal brought peace of mind after Thursday’s blunder, Demong sees sharing a podium with teammate Lodwick as the highlight of his career.

“Todd coming back has made a huge impact on our team. To have a teammate be the guy who was unbeatable has been amazing,” Demong said. “When I think about this Championships, I knew going in we could do it, but there’s a million ways to have it go. We carried our momentum well and were fighting for the win the entire time.”

Mastermind, U.S. nordic combined head coach Dave Jarrett said he believed his team was capable of these results all along. “Everything did come together the way we envisioned it. It’s more validation because we always thought these results were possible,” Jarrett said. “It validates all the work everyone has done. The whole two weeks here have been incredible.”

For highlights from Liberec go to UniversalSports.com.

2009 USA NORDIC COMBINED AND SKI JUMPING MEDALS
Gold – Lindsey Van, women’s ski jumping
Gold – Todd Lodwick, nordic combined mass start
Gold, Todd Lodwick, nordic combined Gundersen start, normal hill
Bronze, Bill Demong, nordic combined Gundersen start, normal hill
Gold, Bill Demong, Nordic combined Gundersen start, large hill