Bill Koch (skier)


William Conrad "Bill" Koch is an American skier who competed at international level. A native of Brattleboro, Vermont, he is a graduate of the nearby Putney School in Putney. In 1974, he became the first American to win a medal in international competition, placing third in the European junior championships.

Biography

Koch was born in Brattleboro, Vermont to Fred and Nancy Koch. His father lived on investments from a major corporation. His parents divorced and in 1965, when his mother became remarried to the then president of Marlboro College, Koch lived with the new family. At the age of 12, Koch met noted cross-country skier, Bill Gray, who taught him how to train effectively. After the family's move to England, it became expeditious for Koch to attend the Putney School, where he could pursue his interest in cross-country skiing.
Koch married and became the father of two daughters. In 1982 he lived in Putney Vermont on a remote plot of land. By that time he had taken his family to New Zealand and Australia, in search of "new frontiers". After his athletic career, he consulted in the construction of cross-country ski courses in Cable, Wisconsin and Labrador City, Newfoundland. He later lived in Hawaii for a period, where he found a way to skate-ski on wet sand. By 2006, he had returned to Putney.

Athletic career

Koch won the silver medal in the 30 km event at the 1976 Winter Olympics, becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing, and the only one until 2018. Koch also finished sixth in the 15 km event at those same Winter Games. In 1981 Koch set the world record time of just under two hours for 30k on a 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.
Koch was a self-assured athlete, when it came to his training regime, which sometimes put him at odds with his coach, Marty Hall.
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. Koch earned a bronze medal in the 30 km event at the 1982 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, becoming the first non-European ever to medal in cross-country skiing at the World Championships. Koch also finished third overall in the 1983 World Cup. 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.
The Bill Koch Ski League, the youth ski league of NENSA, is named after Koch.
In 2012, Koch was honored as part of the inaugural class of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame.

World Cup results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation.

Season titles

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
11981–8216 January 1982 Le Brassus, Switzerland15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
21981–8221 January 1982 Brusson, Italy30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
31981–8220 February 1982 Oslo, Norway30 km IndividualWorld Championships3rd
41981–8212 March 1982 Falun, Sweden30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
51981–8227 March 1982 Kastelruth, Italy15 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
61982–8314 January 1983 Reit im Winkl, West Germany15 km IndividualWorld Cup2nd
71982–8312 February 1983 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia30 km IndividualWorld Cup1st
81982–8319 March 1983 Anchorage, United States15 km IndividualWorld Cup3rd

Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship races were included in the World Cup scoring system.