“I’m in this sport for the long run!”

USA’s Tara Geraghty-Moats can look back on a fable winter in the Ladies’ Continental Cup. In this edition of "TUESDAY TALK", the 25-year-old overall winner looks back on her achievements, the meaning of this winter and her plans for the future.

With 10 victories in 10 events you started in, you must be so satisfied with your season. What kind of bottom line did you draw after the past winter?

Tara Geraghty-Moats: The bottom line is I love this sport. Although I was not a Nordic Combiner a year ago, 4 years on the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup with some top 15 placing paired with being an international level biathlete for a few seasons seemed to be an ideal base to start my career from. It is rare even on the men's side to have both skiing and jumping that can stand alone at an international level.  However, I'm thankful to finally be able to focus on one sport now.

Did the past winter live up to your wishes and expectations as a “homecoming” to your sport Nordic Combined which you were waiting for for so many years?

Geraghty-Moats: Yes, a 1000 times over. I was impressed by the field size and the level of professionalism. I was happy to see so many nations as well. It was clear to me this is a sport that can grow quickly. The women have so much passion for the new opportunities open to them I think it also brings new and exciting energy to the Nord combined family.

As you mentioned, you started in the Viessmann FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, as well as the Nordic Combined Continental Cup in the past year. Was it easy for you to handle the switching back and forth between disciplines?

Geraghty-Moats: Physically it was very doable, however moving between two teams, Ski Jumping and Nordic combined was hard.

What are your longer-term goals? With a Ladies’ World Cup coming in 2020/21 at the latest and the first Ladies’ World Championship event on schedule in the same season, would you like to focus on only Nordic Combined in the long run or is competing in two disciplines an option also for the future?

Geraghty-Moats: I will be focused on Nordic Combined only from here forward. I think it is vital that we have our first World Cups next season, but regardless of what happens with that, it's time to focus on winning medals at World Championships. Two years will go by very fast.

You have a young starting field competing together with you at the moment. What impressed you most, watching your fellow athletes this winter?

Geraghty-Moats: How professional and passionate they are. They made me fight for every win, and I'm sure that one day very soon we will all be sharing the crown.

Even though the development of Ladies’ Nordic Combined has made some big strides since 2014, when the Youth Cup was introduced, it still must be frustrating for you as an older athlete that the bigger steps like a World Cup or official medals take time. What do smaller steps like a growing COC calendar, getting a Ladies’ Nordic Combined athlete representative on the FIS Athletes’ Commission or the first-ever Junior World Championship events mean to you?

Geraghty-Moats: Yes, for sure some days I wonder when the big milestones will finally be reached. However, I'm incredibly grateful for every second I get of competing in Nordic Combined.

It is clear to me that adding women to Nordic Combined will help the sport grow and be best for FIS as a whole. I think a good example of this is how biathlon grew when women were added to World Championships and the Olympics and given equal prize money. It was a step a lot of people were unsure about however it quite literally paid off.

I'm in this sport for the long run and whenever higher levels of competition are open to me I will try to win the medals. In the end, it’s fairly simple.