PARK CITY, Utah -- Bill Koch has been the heart and soul of the U.S. Ski Team's nordic squad for the past eight years and the rest of his teammates are finally beginning to follow the Vermonter's example.
Nordic team director Jim Page puts it simply: 'There's nobody in the world any better than Bill.
'He did a great thing last year,' Page added, referring to Koch's six international victories and his men's title in the overall Nordic World Cup standings -- a first for an American cross country skier.
'We always had a feeling Bill could break through and win the World Cup. And now Bill and the rest of our skiers are going to try to build on last season for this year and the 1984 Winter Olympics.'
It looked like another long year for the U.S. skiers at the start of the 1982 season as Koch placed 26th in his first internatinal race. But Koch only had one more bad race all season. He won three 15-kilometer races and an equal number of 30-kilometer events, plus picking up the bronze medal in the men's 30-k at the FIS World Championships.
The team's best finish came three weeks after the World Championships when Koch and Dan Simoneau of Eugene, Ore., placed 1-2 in the men's World Cup 30-k at Falun, Sweden.
Koch's most dramatic win came in the final 1982 World Cup race, in the men's 15-k at Castelrotto, Italy. He won by 50 seconds, using a new cross country skiing style he has developed.
Page says Koch's new technique combines the traditional 'diagonal' skating with a double-poling arm action 'that has come under attack from the other international teams.'
'No one seems to know exactly why it's wrong. The bottom line seems to be that it just doesn't look right to the Europeans and the Scandinavians,' Page said.
The 27-year-old Koch burst on the international scene with his silver medal in the men's 30-k at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games and he's been near the top in World Cup competition ever since.
In 1982, Simoneau had four top-10 finishes to rank seventh overall in the men's Nordic World Cup standings. Koch, Simoneau, Tim Caldwell of Putney, Vt., and Jim Galanes of Brattleboro, Vt., gave the U.S. team its first international relay victory.
'We've found we can be competitive but we have to be on the World Cup circuit for all 10 races,' Page said. 'We can't miss two or three events and expect to stay where we are.
'Our plan is to look at the next two years as a cycle leading into the Olympic Games and to continue the progress we've been making over the past several years. For 1983, that means full participation on the World Cup circuit.'
Page says, however, his women's cross country team 'doesn't have the strength' to produce a top-10 finisher this year.
Jeff Hastings of Norwich, Vt., was the top U.S. jumper last year, placing seventh in the second half of the 1982 World Cup season. But Page says newcomer Mike Holland, 20, of Norwich 'has been jumping out of the sky' in pre-season meets on plastic-surfaced hills in Europe 'and he's had two top-15 placings among the international jumpers in those practice meets.'
Page says Norway should have the top men's cross country and jumping teams this year, while the 'Russians, Swedes and Americans should be among the top four' in cross country.
He picks the Austrians, Finns and East Germans to challenge Norway in jumping, while 'the Russians, East Germans and Czechs should dominate women's cross country.'
Page also said he suspects the Soviets will be in nearly every World Cup race this year.
The Russians have traditionally selected only a few races each year to showcase their talent, spending the rest of the season in the Soviet Union, Poland or East Germany.
'They tried that last year and got blown away. Rumor has it this season they don't want thatto happen again,' Page added.
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