Who Is Mossy Oak’s Olympian Todd Lodwick?
Editor’s Note: Mossy Oak Pro Staffer Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, loves to hunt and also owns three world skiing titles in Nordic combined skiing. He won the silver medal in Nordic combined skiing in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, and is the only person to qualify six times for the U.S. Winter Olympic team. Lodwick’s passion for the outdoors also includes hunting.
Thirty-seven-year-old Todd Lodwick has participated in the World Cup since 1993 and took the silver medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He also won gold at the World Championships in 2009 for the 10 km mass start and the 10 km normal hill and bronze in 2013 Val di Flemme team normal hill. Also interesting is the fact that Lodwick took a gold medal at the 1996 Junior World Championships in Asiago, Italy, the first time the U.S. had taken a gold medal in the sport. Lodwick is known by several measures as the most successful North American Nordic combined skier in this sport ever.
Lodwick retired in 2006 but returned to competition in 2008, setting his sights on making the team for the 2010 Olympics, which he did and again for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Lodwick, along with teammates Johnny Spillane and Billy Demong, has helped grow the sport of Nordic combined in the U.S. from relative obscurity to international prominence in a little under two decades.
Lodwick says, “The 2013 season was probably the most challenging season I have ever had in regards to my performances mentally and physically. I struggled trying to grasp and master the new jumping suits – it took me a lot longer to get used to them and come to grips that I needed to change my technique. It was a roller coaster year, and I’m glad it’s ended. The Olympic Games is the pinnacle of our sport, so coming off a year of some pretty highs and really lows, I’m just really looking forward to having consistency and using what I’ve learned about ski jumping. I’m up for the challenge.”
Like many young skiers, Lodwick toyed with both jumping and combined before deciding in the summer of 1991 to stick with combined (older brother Kris was a combined skier). Lodwick was named to the national team in November of 1992.
Playing inside was never an option for Lodwick as a child growing up in Steamboat Springs. Today, he has a burning passion for the outdoors whether it’s chasing wild game with a bow or playing golf with friends in Steamboat. “Outdoors is something I grew up in, and it’s a great tradition I want to continue with my two children, Charley and Finn.”
You can learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Lodwick and http://nordic.usskiteam.com/athletes/todd-lodwick.
Tomorrow: The Hunter Todd Lodwick Behind the USA’s Olympic Nordic Skier
