Bill Koch

American skier who competed at international level, winning the silver medal in the 30 km event at the 1976 Winter Olympics. He thereby became the first American to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing, and the only one until 2018. Koch holds the world record time for 30k set on South Pond in Marlboro, Vermont. Stress caused by media pressure, along with asthma, plagued Koch after his early successes. Considered the top American sportsman at the 1980 Winter Olympics, he performed poorly and finished far out of contention in all of his races. Afterward, he popularized a new skiing technique that resembled ice skating on skis, now known as the skate-skiing cross-country skiing technique. Races that allow skate-skiing are called free technique races because they allow skiers to use either skate-skiing technique or classic technique. In 1982 he was crowned the cross-country skiing overall World Cup champion. The freestyle skiing technique has been used in Biathlon competitions since 1985, has been mandatory in Nordic Combined since 1985, and has been part of all cross-country skiing competitions since 1982. Koch carried the American flag at the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. Link to Wikipedia biography