WHISTLER, British Columbia, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Bill Demong of the United States won the Olympic gold medal Thursday in the large hill Nordic combined.
American Johnny Spillane took silver and Bernhard Gruber of Austria captured the bronze.
Nordic combined has been contested in every Winter Olympics and until this year no American had ever won a medal in the sport. In the Vancouver Games, the United States has collected four Nordic combined medals, although Demong was the first American to win gold.
The jumping portion of the event was plagued by poor weather and was restarted once. Even so, some of the best jumpers had to make their attempts in deteriorating conditions and they found themselves too far back at the start of the cross-country race to have a chance at competing.
