Austrians win Nordic combined team 4×5K relay as Americans earn silver

Austria wins gold in Nordic combined relay

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Austria has defended its gold medal in the Nordic combined team relay, edging the Americans, who settled for their second silver medal of the Vancouver Games.

Billy Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., had a slight edge over Mario Stecher heading into the stadium at Whistler Olympic Park but stumbled at the turn and watched the Austrian zoom past him on the straightaway for a 5.2-second victory Tuesday.

Austria’s winning time in the 4×5-kilometer relay following a jump off the large hill was 49 minutes, 31.6 seconds. Germany won bronze, finishing 19.5 seconds behind the winners.

Austria’s team of Stecher, Felix Gottwald, David Kreiner and Bernhard Gruber defended its title from the Turin Games in a race the Americans led much of the way.

It looked like the United States was finally going to get rid of its golden goose egg in Nordic sports at the Olympics as Demong erased a 14.1-second deficit he inherited from Johnny Spillane on the final exchange. He and Stecher took turns in the lead until the Austrian’s strong push at the finish had him cruising in first.

The Americans’ previous best finish in this event was fourth in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Spillane’s silver medal in the normal hill competition on Feb. 14 was the first U.S. Olympic medal in Nordic combined — a ski jump followed by a brutal race of speed around a cross-country track.

Ten days later, he has another.

And the American team, which includes Todd Lodwick and Brett Camerota — couldn’t have been happier.

The Americans started two seconds behind the front-running Finns after a fantastic performance on the jump hill that had them stoked for the relay race, their strong suit, with Lodwick proclaiming, “Come on! Let’s throw down!”

Austria began the cross-country race 36 seconds behind Finland but quickly closed the gap.

Before the Vancouver Olympics, the only medals won by the Americans in Nordic sports — biathlon, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross-country skiing — were a silver by cross-country skier Bill Koch in 1976 and a bronze by ski jumper Anders Haugen in 1924.

It was a perfect morning on the jump hill but snowing by the time the race started two hours later.

Camerota started things off, staying in Janne Ryynaenen’s slipstream until entering the stadium, where he gave the Americans a 2.6-second lead over Finland on the exchange. Austria was just 3.7 seconds behind.

Lodwick, the Americans’ fastest skier, was hoping to build a big lead on the second leg because the other countries were saving their top skiers for last. But Spillane started just .3 seconds ahead of Gottwald, who, like Lodwick, came out of retirement for these Olympics.

By the midway point of his 5-kilometer leg, Demong, who shaved about a minute off his deficit in the first race, when he finished sixth after starting in 24th place, was just 2.2 seconds behind Stecher.

He briefly overtook the Austrian before falling back again and trailing by .6 seconds at the three-quarter mark of their leg. He stayed in Stecher’s slipstream, then passed him on his left on an uphill heading toward the stadium, where it was neck-and-neck until he stumbled.

This podium finish was decades in the making.

The Americans have a combined 15 Olympics among them. They’ve honed their cross-country prowess in large part because they weren’t strong jumpers early in their careers and were forced to make up big deficits on the course. They’ve focused on getting better on the jump hill in recent years, and it showed Tuesday morning.

“That was sick!” Lodwick hollered after sticking a jump of 136.5 meters. “How could I not be happy? I mean, I threw down, and it’s just been an unreal week so far.”

It got even better four hours later.