- You’ve recently had some good weeks in the States with two COC weekends in Calgary and Park City and the 4^th of July competition in Lake Placid. What are your expectations for the next few weeks now?

C: For most of the time the jumping this summer was pretty good and I think the worst I skied was at the COCs this summer. Which was actually good, because now it’s getting better. And after the first day of training here it’s been ok. Not what it needs to be top5 or anything in the summer grand prix. I know it’s possible to jump to be top5 in this competition and that’s what I’m hoping for.

- Why are there just 3 of you here in Hinterzarten at the SGP opening?

J: I don’t know. Initially they were only planning on taking two skiers here. But they gave me and Brian Welch the opportunity to pay for part of the trip and come over. I decided to do that and I guess Brian didn’t. So there’s a chance to take 4 skiers here, but there’s only 3 of us.

- The last season probably was a bit disappointing for you and, maybe it’s too delicate, but what happened to Riku Äyri?

C: I don’t know, I never had any problems with him. It was more because him and Kari are pretty different people, so I think it’s pretty tough when they’re working together. When we first started off to Kuusamo, training and stuff were going really well and then the competition started and I crashed really bad. And after that it didn’t go really well and I was getting sick, so like 3 weeks of that time things just started going down and I never got any better until the very end of the season. For me it was just one bad thing after the other. I think it was the same for the rest of the guys, a lot of misfortune. It just happened that Riku was coaching us at that time and just a lot of people pointed with the finger at him a little bit, I’d say. I mean I don’t know exactly what happened. They just kind of thought it was easier to bring Kari back up, which I think was a good idea at that time, because I think… Riku’s first coaching with us was last summer about this time and then they just gave him pretty much the head coaching job right away and he’s never been in that position before, which I think was pretty tough. I think if they might have worked him into the job kinda slowly, that might have been a little bit better.

- There were rumours in the media over here that you guys just weren’t getting along with Riku. What about that?

T: Riku was definitely like one of the greatest guys we’ve ever been around. He’s a really nice guy. The only thing that we ever had a problem with relationship-wise was that we were too close. It was hard for him to give us criticism about our jumping, it was uncomfortable for him and uncomfortable for us to take it.

C: Yeah we never had any problems with him!

T: No, not one problem.

- Is it true that he’s working as a golfing coach in Belgium now?

C: I think so.

T: He was hoping to do that, because his girlfriend lived in Belgium. But I haven’t talked to him in a few months so I don’t know what the story is.

- When Alan retired, were you surprised or did you expect it?

T: He kinda told us, so we knew it was coming but we didn’t necessarily agree with the decision. But we support what he thinks, it’s his decision and it’s his life to run and he definitely had a lot more jumps in him though. But he’s not enjoying it. And it’s been the time to retire if you’re not enjoying it.

- It always seemed like he kind of had the “leading role” in the team. Do you think there’s someone who can fill his shoes?

C: Hopefully, I mean there are 4 or 5 of us of the same age who need to step up and get on the team. Alan was setting an example like training, like being serious and the competition aspect. At the same time, just the way his personality was… he wasn’t as enthusiastic as he probably could have been maybe around the younger kids. It’s one of the biggest problems in the US when people get to the age of 21 and then they quit and we don’t have a team, because nobody sticks around. I mean, right know we’re getting things paid for and we’re having fun ski jumping and stuff, it’s a lot better than having to work all the time and just doing a normal job. I wanna stick around and keep jumping even if it’s just… Those younger guys like Chris Francis and Anders Johnson they may get to this level to have a team and have some experience. But now at this time it keeps recycling. Everytime someone retires then they have to totally start over at the ski team and that’s getting nowhere.

- Do you feel any pressure on you as the #1 in the team at the moment?

C: Yes, for sure. Because I mean we’re not just athletes, we’re regular kids at the same time too. If we screw up and stuff everybody kinda looks at us and that’s pretty tough.

- What about this quote from Alan, just a few weeks ago: "You never know, I might be back some day after my knee had a little break."

T: I doubt it.

C: I doubt it too, you never know what’s going to happen. I could see Alan maybe being a coach for younger kids like in Colorado or something. I don’t know if he’ll make a comeback.

- What about the new “Super Tour” in the United States, do you think it’s a good project? What’s the idea behind it?

C: I think it’s a really good idea. After they did the budgeting for Kari and me and Matt, there were only $20.000 left over which is not enough to actually have a development team. So the idea was that the next guys in line could go to this competitions and win money so they can fund their jumping and stuff. So I think it’s a really good idea. And plus it’s constant competition which I think is good.

- So the best ones will go to europe and compete internationally, without paying for it?

T: They don’t need to pay anything.

C: Yeah, the ski team will.

T: Clint is going on every trip and there’s an extra spot for another person on every trip.

- If you had to decided, what should be better in US ski jumping?

C: We had a team!

T: If we had the same fan base in the US as you have here, or even half of it, then in ten years there would be thirty times as many jumpers and you would have thirty times more people you could pick from to be the best.

C: I mean in Germany and in Finland they have so many juniors. Like in Finland at the age of 18, I can’t even count how many there are! I mean to be on the world cup and have a team competition all 4 or 5 of us had to be jumping really well and that’s pretty much impossible.

T: There’s only a few people to pick from and when one starts jumping bad there’s no chance you can replace him.

- Tommy, was it a difficult situation for you, when you heard that you weren’t on the team any longer?

T: It was a little bit expected just because of how the last season went. There was no good results at all and a few times when the jumping was going really well, but it wasn’t during the competition. I can’t expect to be on the team if the results aren’t there.

C: It gave him some of his energy back.

T: Oh, it does for sure! In my mind, I’m getting everything I need, from coaching to the physical stuff to everything that I could ask for, at the moment.

- Most of the European nations over here get some new suits, new ski every season. Is it hard for you to keep up to that?

C: Well, some guys like Jimmy, he lives in the mid-west, which is think a lot tougher… but for me with skies and everything… I get too many skies, I don’t end up using them. I have no problem getting any of that stuff. But I’m on an extreme, I don’t ever have to worry about that. It’s not like the club skiers who always order suits and stuff and they’d come in 3 months or something, so that makes it pretty tough for sure. Especially with these rules changing and stuff, it’s hard to keep up.

- Jimmy, is it right that you’re still training at home in Minnesota and not in Park City?

J: Yeah, I am still training in the mid-west. They offered me to come out but it was a lot of money to join the actual training group in Park City like Tommy and a bunch of other people did. I decided that things went pretty well last year skiing with the coach I had and so I decided to try it again. It’s working alright but there’s definitely some pieces missing, like training programs and he doesn’t really have the experience, so I think in that aspect it’s a bit more difficult. I’m on a pretty decent hill, but it has advantages and disadvantages I suppose.

- What about the Olympics 2010 in Vancouver?

C: It definitely gave me another reason to stick around. A lot of our alpine friends often go and train there and it’s a cool area. And then having another really good jump in North America… 2010 hopefully I mean if we stick around, we might have something close to an actual team. It’s realistic and it’s our goal to end up getting medals and stuff. 2006 is also a long time go and depending on how things go we could possibly be in there for a medal, but realistically 2010 is where we’re hopefully going to be a strong team. I’m pretty excited about that.

- Is it like another chance after Salt Lake City 2002?

C: Yeah, for sure.

- What are your goals for the winter season, especially looking at the home world cup in Park City in February?

C: Last season I know I could have easily jumped so much better the whole season. I just want to keep a decent level through the whole winter, like getting top15. And Park City… at the Olympics there we did as bad as we possibly could have. We know the hill better than anybody else and there’s times where, especially in winter, all of us jump the big hill really well. So I’m looking forward to that competition also and then plus ski flying for sure, I’m looking forward to that also.

T: I definitely reflected on that season and all I need to change. Top30s would be a good thing to have next season, just consistent. And in Park City, like Clint said, we can definitely jump well on that hill, it’s our home-hill. It’ll be nice to be at home with our family and they’ll support us as well. Ski Flying is also a highlight for me, I love it and can’t wait to do it again.

J: I think my skiing was really well last year and, u know, doing better than that! I’ve never skied in the world cup so I can’t really say what I want to do there. But skiing in some of those events would be a start I suppose and then ski in the world cup in Park City and then do well in every competition I get the opportunity to ski in. Because where we compete is really depending on how we’re skiing. So hopefully that just goes well.

- Ok now I want you guys to describe each other. Jimmy describes Clint, Clint you got Tommy and Tommy has to say a few words about Jimmy.

J: Ok, let’s see… Clint is a pretty good guy, he’s a lot of fun to hang around with. He’s got a good sense of humour, keeps things pretty interesting. Obviously a very good skier, the closest what we have to the top of the world and we can look at him to see where we are. I like to hang around with him, I think it’s great.

C: Alright… We’ve grown up together and especially the last years we’ve been with each other all the time, so he’s like a brother I guess. He’s a good guy, funny, likes movies, good movies, good music and ummm… I don’t know what to say…

T: Ok, Jimbo, he’s my friend, he’s from the mid-west so he got a different kind of lifestyle, a different personality. And as Clint and me spend so much time together and we’re a lot alike, it was nice to have someone a little bit different come with us. And he’s definitely different in good ways. This guy is fun to be around. He’s nice and never negative. I can’t really complain about any of these guys.

Thanks to the boys, as well as the coaches! It was a pleasure.