Nordic Tour Heads to Lillehammer

LILLEHAMMER, Norway (Dec. 1, 2016) - After a successful Nordic Opener in the heart of Finnish Lapland, the entire nordic World Cup tour has moved from Ruka to the Olympic village of Lillehammer for a three-day competition. All teams will be in action including cross country, nordic combined and ski jumping. It will be opening weekend for the women's FIS Ski Jumping World Cup with Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT) returning to action.

Hendrickson is among athletes being supported this season by the U.S Ski Team, along with teammate Nita Englund (Florence, WI) and nordic combined athlete Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) as a part of its national team program. All three are also a part of their respective Women’s Ski Jumping USA and USA Nordic team programs.

The women's jumping tour opens with a pair of events on the HS100-meter hill Friday and Saturday. In Thursday's qualifying, Hendrickson and Englund led the way tying for 14th. The men, meanwhile, are in Klingenthal, Germany for a pair of events with qualifying Friday and competitions Saturday and Sunday.

Nordic combined has a packed weekend, opening Friday with a four-man team event on the HS100 meter hill, then an individual HS138 event Sunday. The USA will have Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO), Ben Berend (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Ben Loomis (Eau Claire, WI).

Cross country has a three-day mini tour with two classic segments and one freestyle. The tour opens Friday with the season’s second classic sprint. Sadie Bjornsen (Anchorage, AK) and Sophie Caldwell (Putney, VT) led the USA last weekend in that event. Saturday will showcase 10k and 5k freestyle with Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN) expected to challenge for the podium. It wraps up Sunday with a 15k and 10k classic pursuit to determine the tour champion.

Every event this weekend will be streamed live on NBC Sports.