Break out the champagne: Americans celebrate end to 86-year medal shutout in Nordic combined

With silver, US ends shutout in Nordic combined

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Johnny Spillane refused to get bummed out over losing the gold medal to strong French sprinter Jason Lamy Chappuis by just a stride and a half in what was the closest finish ever in an Olympic Nordic combined event.

No American had ever reached the podium in Nordic combined — ski jumping followed by a brutal race of speed over a cross-country track — so Spillane insisted he was perfectly pleased with his silver medal Sunday.

“We told ourselves if we walked away from the Olympics with a medal, no matter what color, we would be pretty psyched,” U.S. coach Dave Jarrett said.

Spillane finished four-tenths of a second behind Chappuis’ winning time of 25 minutes, 47.1 seconds. Italy’s Alessandro Pittin took the bronze, outracing another American, Todd Lodwick, to the podium by seven-tenths of a second. Billy Demong took sixth despite starting the 10-kilometer cross-country race with an 80-second handicap after a disappointing jump off the normal hill in the morning.

Going into the finish, it looked like gold was in Spillane’s reach. He glided toward the finish line, cowbells clanking in his ears, the stars and stripes shimmering in the stands, just moments from being crowned an Olympic champion. Then, out of his right eye Spillane caught the blur of a black and white ski suit as Chappuis zoomed past.

“On the last hill, I honestly didn’t think I could get the gold medal,” said Chappuis, the World Cup leader from Missoula, Mont. “But then he slowed down a little bit entering the stadium and I had really good skis, so my glide was a little bit better than him, maybe.

“I knew I had the power to pass him.”

Spillane was satisfied with silver.

“At that point, I was just happy there was no one else going by me,” he said. “I was really tired.”

Injuries and inconsistency dogged the Americans four years ago in Torino following their best finish ever — fourth — in Salt Lake City, but after their stunning success at the world championships last year, where they won three titles, the Americans brought a smidgen of swagger into the Vancouver Games instead of the usual hope and a prayer.

And it showed with a 2-4-6 finish led by Spillane, the 2003 world sprint champion.

Spillane’s was only the third Olympic medal in Nordic sports for the Americans, joining Bill Koch, who won the silver in cross-country skiing in 1976, and Anders Haugen, who took the bronze in the ski jump in the inaugural 1924 Games.

“After 86 years of trying, we are actually legitimate,” said former U.S. coach Tom Steitz, who maintains close ties to the American team. “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 medal.”

Spillane and Lodwick, both of Steamboat Springs, Colo., took turns leading the way for much of the race. Spillane looked to have an insurmountable lead as he made his final turn, but Chappuis beat him to the line to win the event which featured one jump on the normal hill and a 10-kilometer cross-country race.

With Lodwick pushing the pace as the leader for a couple of laps, Spillane had the energy to make a charge over the last 1½ meters, but then he broke free from the pack a little bit too early and it cost him dearly.

“I was pretty tired when I got about halfway up the last hill,” Spillane said. “I tried really hard to get away because I wanted to get a gap and just hopefully ski away with it.”

He did build a lead of about a dozen meters, but then Spillane found himself gassed.

“It’s the Olympics, you have to try as hard as you possibly can. And I went for it and, unfortunately, I was a little too tired coming down the home stretch,” Spillane said.

Still, the Americans were so excited they didn’t show a tinge of disappointment in not winning a gold.

“It’s a good day,” Jarrett said. “Could it have been better? Yeah. But we’re not that greedy.”