Word: demong
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...this American dominance come about? "During my first Olympics, in Nagano in 1998, we felt like a fringe team," says American Nordic combined skier Billy Demong, of the U.S. attitude during those Olympics. Demong won an individual gold in Nordic combined, fellow American Johnny Spillane won two silvers, and the U.S. won another silver in the team event. Thanks to Demong and his mates, we Americans now know Nordic combined is a sport that mixed ski jumping and cross-country skiing, not a menu item at a Scandinavian restaurant. "Now, when we come to these Games, there are so many...
...cross-country race, a 14-sec. lead is a comfortable cushion. Yet Demong's push against Austria's Mario Stecher set up, for this observer's money, the most memorable finish of the Vancouver Olympics to date. It made you seriously wonder why this sport doesn't garner more attention in the U.S. as well as admire Europe's good taste in obsessing over an event that Americans foolishly offer a big fat yawn. After all, what's more engrossing than a good old-fashioned race to the finish...
...Demong steadily chipped away at Stecher's lead, cutting it in half after 1.7 km and down to 2.2 sec. halfway through the final leg. "If I were an oddsmaker," said a public-address announcer, a purported Nordic combined expert, "Stecher is the guy you wouldn't want at the end." Was the Austrian toast? Demong finally passed Stecher - and for a moment, it appeared as if Stecher was about to give up and ski off the course. Going into the final 0.8-km stretch, the duo was essentially tied...
...Stecher built a small lead, but Demong passed him again, this time on an uphill climb. "I hoped to move up a gap of four or five seconds and hold on to the finish," says Demong. "I was like, Ah, I think I'm getting there. And then I hit him with my pole. I was like, Arrgh, he's still here." On a downhill glide, Stecher made the final pass, and Austria won the gold...
...Americans were still justifiably jubilant after the race. "We're damn satisfied," says Demong. On Thursday, the U.S. will have one more opportunity to snare that elusive gold, in the individual "large hill" competition. "I'm not surprised," says Tomas Slavik, a Nordic combined athlete from the Czech Republic, of the U.S. performance. "Bill [Demong], Johnny [Spillane] and Todd [Lodwick] came up together as juniors and have been doing this for a long time. America is a force." Now when they trek through Europe on the Nordic combined circuit, the skiers can leave the sleeping bags at home. And they...