With five Olympics and ten World Championships under his belt, Todd Lodwick has one of the more impressive resumes in sports—but the 36-year-old isn’t done yet.

After a lull in 2012, Lodwick showed that he still has the ability, passion, and perhaps more importantly, the drive to compete on the international stage in 2013. In what he considers an “up and down” season, the Steamboat Springs native grabbed a victory and a runner-up finish at the two Sochi Grand Prix events in July. He then followed that up with a sweep of the first three Continental Cups in Park City/Soldier Hollow. Lodwick experienced a dry spell around mid-season, but ramped things up for the World Championships, taking third in the short hill team event.

With the 2014 Olympics right around the corner, memories of Vancouver 2010’s historic Team USA silver in nordic combined come flooding back, as do Lodwick’s two gold medals at World Championships in 2009. The two victories signaled a second coming for Lodwick, who had emerged from a two-year retirement to top the biggest podium of the year.

Lodwick’s early career included 18 U.S. titles (he has since added two more) and a Junior World Championship gold.

He, along with teammates Johnny Spillane and Billy Demong, have helped grow the sport in the U.S. from relative obscurity to international prominence in a little under two decades. The evidence is in a rising wave of strong U.S. competitors. Where once Lodwick led the U.S. charge, he will now battle for his sixth Olympic team with a solid group of U.S. hopefuls—an interesting, but welcome ‘problem’ for one of the skiers that started it all.

TODD SAYS
This season was probably the most up and down season I have ever had in regards to results and performances. I was trying to grasp and master the new jump suits, and it’s taking me a little longer to get used to them. It was a roller coaster and I’m glad it’s over with.

The Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport, so coming off a year of some pretty low points, I’m just really looking forward to next year and making sure that it doesn’t happen again. I learned a lot this year. I learned that I have to get used to the new style of ski jumping. I’m up for the challenge. I’ve got a lot of goals I want to accomplish next year and the season starts now. We’ve got a countdown to the Olympic Games and I can’t wait for every day to be as productive as possible.

FIRST TRACKS
Like many young skiers, Lodwick toyed with both jumping and combined before deciding in the summer of 1991 to stick with combined (older brother Kris was a combined skier). In November '93, he won a Continental Cup in Lillehammer to open the Olympic season. Two years later, he became the first U.S. skier to win a nordic combined World Cup in front of his family and friends in Steamboat. Six weeks later, Lodwick was a Junior Worlds gold medalist in Asiago, Italy.

OFF THE SNOW
Playing inside was never an option for Lodwick as a child. Today, he has a burning passion for the outdoors, whether it’s chasing wild game with a bow or playing golf with friends in Steamboat. He’s a pro, whether on skis or on a hunt, which led him to partner with outdoor industry giant Mossy Oak camouflage. “The outdoors is something I grew up in and it’s a great tradition.” Lodwick also loves to spend as much time as he can with his two children.