Macartney, Sullivan jump to Nordica skis and boots

Macartney, Sullivan jump to Nordica skis and boots{mosimage}Nordica USA has signed U.S. Ski Team speed specialists Scott Macartney and Marco Sullivan to an exclusive agreement for use of Nordica skis and boots through 2008.

Macartney, 28, is coming off his career best season, which included a second-place finish in the Garmisch super G, helping him earn a 10th-place ranking in the World Cup super G standings.

Sullivan, 23, posted several top-15 World Cup results last season, including a 14th in the Kitzbuehel downhill.

Both athletes have switched to Nordica from Salomon. Macartney and Sullivan’s spring testing plans differed with companies of interest but crossed paths mid-April in Süd Tirol, Italy, for a comparison test between Salomon and Nordica.

“I approached my spring testing very seriously. I placed all the ski and boot companies on a level playing field and let the testing results make my decision,” said Macartney.

Sullivan said, “We had a great test in Italy, the snow was hard, we had minute-long super G training, and I was really fast on the Nordica setup!”

“After a week of testing, it looked as if Nordica would be signing two of the best U.S. speed skiers,” added Matt Knittle, Nordica USA race manager. “We had great testing conditions; a ski area reserved for Nordica only, a support team of over 10 people, and downhill and super G tracks that were running over one minute in length.

“Macartney and Sullivan proved just how fast the Nordica speed skis really are.”

With the addition of Macartney and Sullivan, Nordica will add to its increasing presence as a leader of skis and boots on the U.S. Ski Team. Macartney and Sullivan will now join U.S. Ski Team Nordica athletes Erik Schlopy and TJ Lanning.

— Nordica