Spillane’s silver gives US 1st-ever medal in Nordic combined; Americans struggle in biathlon

Spillane 1st American to medal in Nordic combined

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Jump off a hill in the morning, do some cross-country skiing in the afternoon. That’s what goes into the Nordic combined, a sport that’s been part of the Winter Olympics since 1924.

And on Sunday, an American finally won a medal.

Johnny Spillane snagged the silver and Todd Lodwick narrowly missed joining him on the podium, finishing fourth. Spillane nearly got the gold, finishing a mere four-tenths of a second behind Jason Lamy Chappuis, who was born in Missoula, Mont., but has always raced for France.

“After 86 years of trying we are actually legitimate,” U.S. coach Tom Steitz said. “How do you boil up 86 years of frustration? You don’t. Everybody starts crying. We are all going to sit around tonight and drink champagne and touch the medals.”

Could this be a turning point for the sport? Will Spillane’s silver bring a new awareness that makes it the thing all the cool kids are doing?

“It’s not like after-school soccer,” Steitz said, “but we will pick up more kids for sure.”

Spillane’s breakthrough bumped the U.S. team’s medal collection to five, two more than any other country. Americans failed to win a medal in the other two events decided by Sunday evening, the men’s biathlon 10-kilometer sprint and women’s 3,000-meter speedskating.

Two more golds were to be decided on another warm day in Vancouver, in men’s luge and men’s moguls.

The luge finish is sure to be somber. Moguls could be quite raucous if Alexandre Bilodeau can give Canada its first gold medal on home turf in three Olympics (1976 Montreal, 1988 Calgary).

Bilodeau was second in qualifying. Favorite Dale Begg-Smith — who was born in Canada, but competes for Australia — was fourth.

Tim Burke and Jay Hakkinen were supposed to challenge for medals. Then came a heavy, wet snowfall that was tough enough to undo Norwegian great Ole Einar Bjorndalen as well.

Bjorndalen, winner of a record nine biathlon medals, had the worst finish of his Olympic career — 17th. His three penalties from the prone position matched the most of all 87 competitors, and his four total penalties tied for second most.

“It just wasn’t my day,” said Bjorndalen, who’d finished worse than fifth only once in 11 career events. “When the snow came down, it was hopeless.”

Burke, the first U.S. biathlete to lead the World Cup standings, wound up 47th. Hakkinen was 54th.

Vincent Jay of France won the event, ahead of Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway and Jakov Fak of Croatia. They were all among the first 10 starters, before the snow began to cause problems. Jeremy Teela was the top American, finishing ninth.

Kristina Groves gave Canada hopes for gold in the women’s 3,000 meters, but wound up with the bronze, beaten by Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic and Germany’s Stephanie Beckert.

Sablikova also is favored to win the 5,000 meters.

Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. was the top American, finishing ninth.

The only question was whether the United States would clobber China as badly as Canada’s 18-0 wipeout of Slovakia.

No, but it was close.

The Americans won 12-1, with Jenny Potter notching her first Olympic hat trick and becoming the leading scorer in U.S. Olympic history. The Americans came within 2:21 of a shutout in front of a crowd that included Vice President Joe Biden and 1980 U.S. hockey captain Mike Eruzione.

“I think we did a good job playing our game, but at the same time keeping sportsmanship in mind,” U.S. captain Natalie Darwitz said.

It’s getting to the point where it will be news when they do ski in Whistler.

The Alpine schedule was wiped out yet again, this time keeping the women from a training session because of heavy rain and snow. The men’s downhill is supposed to begin Monday, when drier, cooler air is expected to arrive.

The World Cup ski circuit came to the Canadian resort for three consecutive years in the mid-1990s and failed to get off a single race each time, so the International Ski Federation knew to write the schedule in pencil.

Then again, they always do.

“Since 1970 we’ve never had an Olympics or world championships without delays or postponements, so it’s nothing new,” federation president Gian-Franco Kasper said. “We’re used to it.”

The delays continue to be good for Lindsey Vonn, who needed time off to get over a bruised right shin.

Vonn’s husband told The Associated Press that she went through a rigorous slalom training session, her biggest test since being injured Feb. 2.

“Her focus has definitely changed from, ‘Am I going to race?’ to ‘I’m definitely racing, and I need to get the rust off and try to get the speed back,” Thomas Vonn said.

The republic of Georgia plans to honor Nodar Kumaritashvili by building a luge track in his hometown and holding an annual competition in his name.

Kumaritashvili was from Bakuriani, a top ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains. He died Friday after crashing during a training run, prompting changes to make the course shorter and slower.

The women’s event begins Monday and many competitors don’t like the new setup.

German standout Natalie Geisenberger said racing on the new track is “not fun.” She adds that if a switch in the name of safety was to be made, it should have been done a year earlier, “not when one is dead.”

American world champion Erin Hamlin said it’s difficult to figure out how to handle the new start position.

Uh-oh, Canada: Sidney Crosby got hurt in his final NHL game before coming to the Olympics.

Crosby, the biggest star on a Canadian roster filled with big names, blocked a shot with his right shin in the second period of a game against Nashville. He played the rest of the game, with an assist in the third period of a 4-3 shootout loss for Pittsburgh.

“I will be there,” Crosby said. “I’m on the flight tonight.”

Canada was scheduled to practice Monday and open against Norway on Tuesday.

That huge outdoor cauldron ignited by Wayne Gretzky would make for a great photo backdrop — if not for the chain-link fence keeping folks away.

Officials put up for safety and security reasons, Vancouver Organizing Committee spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said they’re realizing what an eyesore the fence has become. So now they’re talking about another barrier that would at least be more photogenic.

Despite tough economic times, the U.S. Olympic Committee has a new sponsor: BP petroleum.

The deal will be announced Monday. It’s expected to be worth between $10 million and $15 million and to run at least through the 2012 Olympics in London.