Johnny Spillane

Johnny Spillane did something no American has ever done in the Winter Olympics. He medaled in the Nordic Combined.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)— 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.

More.

Jason Lamy Chappuis - who was born in Missoula, Mont., but has always raced for France - overtook Johnny Spillane on the final straightaway for the gold medal, winning the individual race in 25 minutes, 47.1 seconds, four-tenths of a second ahead of Spillane.

...Spillane and [American Todd] 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 features one jump on the normal hill and a 10-kilometer cross-country race.

As Spillane was taking his final few strides, Chappuis surged past him using shorter strides. As he swept past, Spillane titled his head to his right just in time to watch the gold medal slip from his grasp.

...Spillane was satisfied with silver.

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

...Once hopelessly behind the Germans, Austrians, Russians, Norwegians and Finns, the U.S. Nordic combined ski team is now one of the world’s powers following their domination of last year’s world championships and Spillane’s silver medal Sunday.

What a great achievement!