Nina Lussi-Andrew Urlaub: Competing in a COVID World

COMPETING IN A COVID WORLD

On the eve of the 2020-21 season and a pandemic still gripping the world, every day offers new changes and challenges. USA Nordic ski jumpers Nina Lussi of Lake Placid, N.Y. and Andrew Urlaub from the Flying Eagles Ski Club in Eau Claire, Wis. experienced that firsthand this fall, competing in Europe at COVID-shortened FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix events.

Ski jumping commentator Peter Graves caught up with the two ski jumpers with an insightful conversation for Ticket to Fly, the USA Nordic podcast Competing in a COVID World. The episode takes a look at life training and traveling in Europe and experiences learned that could foreshadow the season ahead.

CHATTING WITH  NINA AND ANDREW

Veteran ski jumper Nina Lussi (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and rising young star Andrew Urlaub (Eau Claire, Wis.) took a break from fall training to speak with commentator Peter Graves in Vermont on a fall day with the season looming ahead. Lussi was online from her pre-season training base in Courchevel, France, home of the 1992 Olympic ski jumping complex. Urlaub took a break from the beach on the gulf coast of Florida.

The two came from very different backgrounds with Lussi steeped in family Olympic sport tradition and Urlaub discovering a niche sport in a Wisconsin town with a deep culture for ski jumping.

Nina, you really had quite a family tradition.

Growing up in Lake Placid, I guess originally I kind of took it all for granted it was part of life to just experiment with all of the different sports and coming from a pretty athletic family. I did basically everything growing up, and it wasn't until much later that I was able to appreciate what my family had given me and also the legacy that my great grandfather, Gus, left behind, and that was in figure skating. I'm not very involved in that world at all. But, yeah, it was cool growing up. I ski raced, I learned how to figure skate, played soccer and track - cross country running a little cross-country skiing. Growing up in the Adirondacks is really, really special to have everything so close.

You are part of the ‘next generation’ of women ski jumpers. Who were your role models?

What's really special about my position is those pioneering women are friends, role models and people that I got to know. I remember when I was in elementary school and I printed out pictures of Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome, Anette Sagen. They were so cool to me. Then about 10 years later, I was competing with them and friendly with them. And it's really cool to see that they got to see all of their work pay off. And now the Olympics and World Cup is really competitive for women. And it's just great.

Andrew, you may not have the same Olympic tradition in Eau Claire as in Lake Placid. How did you get into ski jumping in western Wisconsin.

I'm actually the opposite of Nina. My family had zero background in skiing and there were actually a lot of wrestlers in my family. So you could say a similar body type. But I think the rich culture and the background of Eau Claire in ski jumping that just made it all the better to be a ski jumper.

You’re still a very young ski jumper but starting to have some success. Was this something you expected?

No, and looking back on it, I did not expect this at all. But I think the time that I grew up was a great time in the Flying Eagles history books. We had many people on the US team competing in Europe, and so they were great role models to look up to, such as the Mattoons, the Loomis', the Andersons. When I was growing up, I got to look up to them and see what they were doing and that's what I wanted, wanted to do.

Do you feel like you're kind of carrying the torch at the international level for for the club?

No, Ben Loomis is still going strong. I have not seen Ben recently. I hope he's doing well. Right now it's myself and Ben Loomis and we're carrying the torch and we're representing the Flying Eagles.

You were the lone U.S. man competing in the Grand Prix this fall in Wisla, Poland. How was your experience there?

As a team, we had a pretty late start to the summer. We normally start jumping in early June. We didn't get our first jumps until about the middle of July. So it was a quick turnaround to be competing internationally that soon. So the consistency wasn't there. I think the jumps were close, but just not enough repetitions on the hill yet in the summer to have the consistency up. It was a good building block. Looking back on it, I'm ver