U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb Fields Questions from Right and Left Field

We discuss the happenings around the U.S. Cross-Country Ski Team with Matt Whitcomb. He was recently announced as the new head coach of the team.

Show Notes

A slight reshuffling of positions at U.S. Ski and Snowboard and longtime coach Matt Whitcomb has a new title: Head Coach. Whitcomb held the title of World Cup Coach last season.

As the pandemic took hold in mid-March here in the U.S., Whitcomb holed up at his cabin in rural Vermont for a two-week solo quarantine. We caught up with Whitcomb via phone on April 23 from his cabin. This was a broad ranging interview. We discussed how teams monitor athlete health, recent U.S. Ski Team nominations and aged-based criteria, and how the team may modify its training in light of the pandemic.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Whitcomb directlly via email or phone. Below is his contact information.

Email: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone]

-Thanks to Gavin Kentch and Rachel Perkins for help with this episode.

Timestamps:

00:00-11:00 Coaching roles on the USST

11:00-19:00 USST budget and athlete support

19:30-28:20 Training in the time of a pandemic and racing contingency plans

28:21:-9:45 Discussing how to monitor athlete health/wellness

39:46-51:50 Developing elite-level male athletes in the U.S.

51:51- 1:06:14 David Norris not being nominated to the USST, age-based criteria, Scott Patterson's nomination to the USST

What is Nordic Nation?

The Nordic Nation podcast is a production of FasterSkier.com, the premier cross-country ski website in North America. The podcast features interviews, commentary, and news updates.