Taylor FLETCHER

Growing up in Steamboat Springs, one of the big hubs of the Northern American Nordic Combined sport, Taylor Fletcher has been exposed to elite athletes and Olympians like Johnny Spillane from an early age on. His biggest source of inspiration, though, has always been his older brother Bryan with whom Taylor competes together with on the US Ski Team. "We have a very unique relationship. We are both driven athletes and at times can be the best of friends but in competition we are individual athletes. Bryan has been my motivation to keep involved in the sport and he has also helped me through my difficult obstacles in sports", Fletcher writes on his website.

In the season of 2012/13, "little brother" Taylor managed to outclass Bryan for the first time in the World Cup. By delevoping into one of the fastest cross-country skiers in the field, it is definitely a "taylor-made" strategy for Fletcher to land an acceptable jump and then catch up from behind. By setting the fastest cross-country times regularly, many an athlete have felt the hot breath of the American on their backs while Fletcher worked his way to the front. In Seefeld, he also claimed the first podium rank of his career when coming in third. He repeated this feat in Sapporo, Japan in 2015.

"But I cannot turn my back for long", Taylor sums up, "Because Bryan likes standing on the podium as much as I do. We are a team and will remain that way for the rest of our lives. I have his back and he has mine."