Expanded News ... Page 2                © 1999 - 2010  KJA & Associates Made with Xara Web Designer Billy Demong Carries US Flag at Closing Ceremonies Nordic Combined GOLD medalist elected by fellow athletes as US flagbearer What an end to a memorable two weeks in Vancouver ... in the Nordic disciplines of ski jumping, Nordic Combined, and cross-country, the US had won only two medals in the 86 years of Olympic competition.  Anders Haugen earned a bronze medal in ski jumping at the first Winter Games in Chamonix FRA in 1924 ... but because of a scoring error that wasn’t discovered for many years, it wasn’t awarded to him until 1974.  Bill Koch brought home a silver medal in cross-country from the 1976 Games in Innsbruck.  Although Nordic Combined, which involves both jumping and cross- country, has been an Olympic event since those first games in 1924, the US had never won a medal in NC.  That all changed in Vancouver, with a GOLD and three SILVER medals! The US Nordic Combined team, which has been very successful on the World Cup circuit the past few years, served notice at the 2009 FIS World Championships in Liberec CZE that they’d be formidable competitors at the 2010 Olympics.  Todd Lodwick claimed two told medals, while Billy Demong grabbed a gold and a bronze.  Demong had captured a silver at the 2007 Worlds, and Spillane had struck gold at the 2003 Worlds.  Injuries had sidelined both Spillane and Demong, and Lodwick had retired after the 2006 Games in Torino.  But with Lodwick’s return last year, and a healthy Demong and Spillane, they were on a tear this year in World Cup.  And the season isn’t over! In early January, in Val di Fiemme ITA, scene of Spillane’s 2003 World Championship, Demong won a World Cup event, with Lodwick second.  They’d been running 1-2-3 late in the race, but Spillane encountered an equipment problem that dropped him to 22nd.  That showed definitively that they’d progressed from having one American in contention, or maybe two, they had become a threat to have three US athletes capable of landing on the podium on any given day ... maybe all three! Spillane almost won the first event of the Olympics, the NH/10K, which involves jumping on the “normal” (K95) hill, followed by a 10 kilometer race with start times determined by jumping scores.  Lodwick finished 4th, and Demong, who’d had a mediocre jump, had started way back in 24th place, and raced to 6th.  USA 2-4-6; a sign of things to come. In the team competition, where the race portion is a relay, with each of the four team members having to run 5 kilometers, the US got a by being the ONLY team to have all four jumpers exceed 130 meters.  Brett Camerota, put himself in position to lead after the first group of skiers, and he did just that.  By the  time it was over, the US had scored another silver medal, finishing just 5 seconds behind mighty Austria ... and all four Americans stood on the podium! When the jumping round was over on the large hill, Spillane had finished 2nd, but meters to Spillane’s 129.  Demong had the Austrian Bernhard Gruber had jumped 134 jumped 122.5 and started 13th.  When the 6th longest jump at 127 meters.  Lodwick over Spillane and 46 sec over Lodwick, but race started, Gruber had a 34 second lead of them battled throughout the race, they rapidly overtook Gruber, and the three putting distance on the rest of the field.  When it came time for the final sprint, Demong had the lead, and Spillane blasted past Gruber ... USA gold and silver!  Lodwick ran as high as 4th, in a tight pack through most of the race, and finished 13th.  His efforts helped to control the pace of the pack, keeping pace with anyone who threatened to break away, much the way it would happen in a long-distance bicycle race. Four medals ... one individual gold, two individual silver, and team silver.  Biggest day in the history of the US Ski Team in the Nordic disciplines.  This was the culmination of years of progress, and couldn’t have happened to a more deserving group of athletes.   Not only did these achievements get significant attention when they happened, but the spotlight continued to shine.  The NC medals were brought up numerous times in the NBC coverage, as well as in the coverage of other media.  The Today Show had a feature on Demong on Friday 2/26, and it was still dark in Vancouver when they were interviewing him.  In the course of the interview, they mentioned that he’s proposed to his girlfriend, Katie Koczynski, the night before ... and they also told him on air that he’d been elected by all the other US athletes to be America’s flagbearer at the closing ceremonies on Sunday night. To most of the American public, this was all a big surprise.  But Demong and Lodwick were reigning World Champions, and both Demong and Spillane had previous World titles.  This was the fifth Olympics for Lodwick, and the fourth for Spillane and Demong.  They’ve been training and competing together since the mid 1990s, and the faith the US Ski Team showed in these guys paid off in the most emphatic way.  Congratulations to Billy, Johnny, Todd, Brett, and the fifth man, Taylor Fletcher, who competed in the LH individual event.  Also to coaches Dave Jarrett and Chris Gilbertson. All in all, this was beyond what those of us who’ve followed jumping an Nordic Combined could have allowed ourselves to dream of.  A magnificent performance in every respect. Silver in NH individual, silver in team relay, gold and silver in LH individual.  “Do you believe in miracles? ... YES!”