U.S. TEAM NORDIC COMBINED - SILVER

History was made at the Vancouver Games yesterday by Brett Camerota, Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane, and Bill Demong.

The Americans won their first medal EVER in the Nordic Combined team event.

They broke through. They grabbed team silver!

Patience pays off with Olympic medal

Sometimes, after waiting so long for something to happen, it doesn't just feel good or even great when it finally does. It feels sublime and almost perfect. You feel joy and you feel reflective all at the same time.

Amid gooey, wet snowflakes Tuesday at Whistler Olympic Park, an 86-year wait came to a sudden end for the U.S. men's Nordic combined team. It won silver in the team relay, the first-ever Olympic medal for an American team in the event, which matches ski jumping with cross-country skiing.

The relay silver follows the silver that Johnny Spillane of Steamboat Springs, Colo., won last week in the first Nordic event on the 2010 Olympic calendar, what's called the normal hill event.

Thus -- after going 86 years without winning even one Olympic medal, the Americans now have two.

"This is huge," said Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, Colo, who got a medal in these, his fifth Olympics, skiing second in Tuesday's four-man relay. "I think it's bigger than words to describe it."

There's one more Nordic event left here at the 2010 Games, the large hill, on Thursday.

At this point, Johnny Spillane is the most decorated Nordic Combined athlete of the Vancouver Games.

With one event left, no one can surpass Johnny's medal total.

Spillane, Lodwick, or Demong could win a medal on Thursday, adding to the Americans' success.

...Spillane won a gold at the 2003 world championships. Lodwick won two golds at the 2009 Worlds. Demong won a gold at the 2009 Worlds.

"It's a big difference from having to hope for a miracle," Spillane said a couple days ago, looking toward the relay. "We've always been really close but now we're in a situation where everybody is so consistent."

Indeed, there was nothing miraculous about the relay silver. In fact, the Americans had to overcome wax that apparently wasn't quite right for conditions; that's how good, how consistent, the U.S. racers have become.

"We all did our jobs," Camerota said. "We jumped far and skied fast."

What these American athletes have accomplished is historic.

I'd like to see their achievements get more attention.

A snippet of the medal ceremony for the Tuesday relay was aired on NBC's late night show, but the camera remained on the Austrians the entire time as the Austrian anthem played. We didn't see the Americans introduced as the silver medal winners. We didn't see them receive their medals. Plus, the segment ran after 1:00 AM CT.

There really is no excuse for that. The Nordic Combined medal was the only one won by Americans on Tuesday. NBC opted to devote much of the late night program to the women's biathlon relay, where the USA was not a contender.

Another problem-- NBC ended its prime time coverage with a medal ceremony that had a Canadian at the top of the podium and no Americans taking silver or bronze. What the hell? I would much rather have heard the Austrian anthem and seen our historic Nordic Combined team than hear "O Canada" again.
(Note: Video of the medal ceremony is available online here. This is NOT what aired on NBC Tuesday night, technically Wednesday, after 1:00 AM CT.)


I wish the American team would get more coverage, at least as much as NBC devoted to Lindsey Vonn's shin.

It's one of the biggest stories of the 2010 Winter Olympics for the Americans. It took 86 years to happen.
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More on the historic accomplishments of the American Nordic Combined athletes:

US Nordic combined team wins historic silver at Vancouver Olympics

U.S. wins Nordic relay medal

U.S. wins Nordic combi team silver

Nordic Combined (Team): Austria claim combined team gold

'Fourth man' or not, Nordic combined teammates thrilled with Brett Camerota