Zhangjiakou, China (February 17, 2022) – Men’s Nordic Combined wrapped up their final event at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Thursday, placing 6th overall in the Men’s Team Large Hill/4x5km competition. This was USA Nordic’s best finish in the Men’s Team Large Hill/4x5km since Sochi 2014, where they also finished in 6th.
On the Large Hill, Jasper Good started things off with a 114.5 meter jump, followed by Taylor Fletcher at 113.0 meters, Jared Shumate at 128.0 meters, and Ben Loomis at 129.0 meters. These four jumps combined for a total score of 387.1, putting them in 7th place and +1:58 behind the leader to start the 4x5km.
Taylor Fletcher started the first leg of the 4x5km, as he recorded the fastest course time of the day out of all competitors, notching a time of 12:16.3. Ben Loomis then took the second leg, as he finished the course in a total time of 12:52.3, followed by Jasper Good on the third leg with a time of 13:07.4. Jared Shumate finished up the race for the team, as he was able to card a 6th place finish for the team, with a total time of 12:53.1. The team recorded a total course time of 51.09.1, which was the second fastest behind Norway’s gold medal team.
As Men’s Nordic Combined prepares to depart from Beijing, they are looking forward to the competitions that are still to come this season. There were many positives to take away from the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and a lot to look forward to for the Games in 2026.
Results
Athlete Quotes
Taylor Fletcher
On performance…
“I think that the team stepped up in a way that was very cool to see. It was not the easiest jumping round, but Jared and Ben have been jumping on a very high level the entire Olympic Games. Jasper had a very solid jump as well, but I wish that I could have done a little bit more on my jump. Everyone skied their hearts out today as well, it was really cool to see.”
On Beijing being his final Olympic Winter Games…
“This is really tough. I started in 2010 with Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane winning medals, and that was really cool to see. It sucks not coming away with a medal, but I can honestly say that I gave it my all, every single race. I have nothing to be ashamed of, it has been an honor to be able to represent the USA. It has been a fun year, and I’m excited to see what the guys are going to do in the future. It’s crazy to think that this will be the last time I will be putting on an Olympic bib, unless I get some stupid idea to come back in four years.”
On the people he would like to thank…
“I would like to thank my family, especially my brother, Bryan. I would like to thank all of my coaches and USA Nordic, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and the town of Steamboat. The support I’ve gotten the last couple of weeks has been huge.”
Ben Loomis
On performance…
“Overall, I thought that we had a really good day. Sixth place is really solid and one of our better results. Watching Taylor go out and crush the first leg was very inspirational. I think that we put our best foot forward and did all that we could, and I’m very happy with how we performed.”
On looking forward to 2026 Olympic Winter Games…
“I think we are really going to continue to continue to grow as a team, and we are still very young. We’ve got really great coaches and staff at USA Nordic, and I feel like every year everything is getting better. I believe we’re going to continue to get better as a team, and we will be up for some medals in 2026.”
Jasper Good
On performance…
“I think that I had a solid day. I didn’t get to ski in the team event at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, I was super excited and this was an event I was looking forward to all year. I’m really excited about how the team did, and I think that this was a big step for us. I also think it was a solid finish for us, as a young team, and it was pretty special to go out with Taylor like this.”
On looking forward to 2026 Olympic Winter Games…
“I think that next time, we are trying to take another step and be fighting with those lead groups and contend for a medal.”
Jared Shumate
On performance…
“Overall, I’m very happy with both my performance and the team’s as well. I had another competition jump that I was happy with, it also seemed like everybody had a better day on the jump as well. Then, with each leg on the course, we skied our absolute hardest and Taylor covered a bunch of time for us. On my leg, I was luckily able to win a sprint finish, which was the first one of the games that I won.”
On looking forward to 2026 Olympic Winter Games…
“I definitely think as a team, that we can be in the medal fight in 2026. With this being mine and Stephen’s first Olympics, and then Ben and Jasper’s second, we have the experience and I think we are going to be in a really great spot. We have the next four years to work towards our goal, and we are going to use our time in Beijing as motivation.”
