Olympics Report: US picks up Second Nordic Combined Medal

The United States Nordic combined team picked up it's second medal in the team event.  Austria laid claim to the gold medal, defending their gold from the Torino games, while Germany picked up the bronze.

Nordic Combined Team Large Hill-Cross Country Final Standings
1.  Austria (Bernard Gruber/David Kreiner/Felix Gottwald/Mario Stecher), G
2.  United States (Brett Camerota/Todd Lodwick/Johnny Spillane/Bill Demong), S
3.  Germany (Johannes Rydzek/Tino Edelmann/Eric Frenzel/Bjorn Kircheisen), B
4.  France (Maxime LaHeurte/Francois Braud/Sebastien LaCroix/Jason Lamy Chappuis)
5.  Norway (Jan Schmid/Espen Rian/Petter L. Tande/Magnus Moan)
6.  Japan (Taihei Kato/Daito Takahashi/Akito Watabe/Norihito Kobayashi)
7.  Finland (Janne Ryynaenen/Jaakko Tallus/Anssi Koivuranta/Hannu Manninen)
8.  Czech Republic (Ales Vodsedalek/Miroslav Dvorak/Tomas Slavik/Pavel Churavy)
9.  Switzerland (Seppi Hurschler/Tim Hug/Tommy Schmid/Ronny Heer)
10.  Italy (Alessandro Pittin/Giuseppe Michielli/Lukas Runggaldier/Armin Bauer)

Bode Miller, looking for his fourth Vancouver medal in the men's giant slalom, failed to finish after skiing out on the course.  Switzerland's Carlo Janka won the gold medal, with Norwegians Kjetil Jansgrud and Aksel Lund Svindal winning silver and bronze, respectively.

Men's Giant Slalom Final Standings (Top 15)
1.  Carlo Janka (SUI), G
2.  Kjetil Jansgrud (NOR), S
3.  Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR), B
4.  Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
5.  Romed Baumann (AUT)
6.  Benjamin Raich (AUT)
7.  Ivica Kostelic (CRO)
8.  Felix Neureuther (GER)
9.  Ted Ligety (USA)
10.  Ales Gorza (SLO)
11.  Massimiliano Blardonne (ITA)
12.  Philipp Schoerghoffer (AUT)
13.  Steve Missillier (FRA)
14.  Didier Cuche (SUI)
15.  Sandro Viletta (SUI)

It was the women's turn to hit the ski cross course, and the Canadians came up big, with Ashleigh McIvor winning the event's inaugural gold medal. 

Women's Ski Cross Final Standings (Top Eight)
1.  Ashleigh McIvor (CAN), G
2.  Hedda Berntsen (NOR), S
3.  Marion Jasserand (FRA), B
4.  Karin Huttary (AUT)
5.  Kelsey Surwa (CAN)
6.  Anna Holmund (SWE)
7.  Fanny Smith (SUI)
8.  Julie Brendengen Jensen (NOR)

The Dutch speed skating team suffered a heartbreak at the Richmond Oval when Sven Kramer, widely favored to win the gold medal in the men's 10,000m, made a lane change error and was disqualified.  Korean Lee Seung-Hoon ended up with the gold, while Ivan Skobrev of Russia won the silver and Kramer's teammate Bob De Jong won the bronze.

Men's Speed Skating 10,000m Final Standings (Top 8)
1.  Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR), G
2.  Ivan Skobrev (RUS), S
3.  Bob De Jong (NED), B
4.  Alexis Contin (FRA)
5.  Håvard Bøkko (NOR)
6.  Sverre Haugli (NOR)
7.  Henrik Christiansen (NOR)
8.  Jonathan Kuck (USA)

Olympics Report: US Claims Historic Silver Medal in Nordic Combined

Day 3 of the Olympics was marked by two historic medal wins.  After never winning a medal of any color in Nordic combined, American Johnny Spillane crossed the finish line behind Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis for the silver medal.  Teammate Todd Lodwick finished fourth behind Italian Alessandro Pittin.

Nordic Combined Final Standings (Top 25)
1.  Jason Lamy Chappuis (FRA)
2.  Johnny Spillane (USA)
3.  Alessandro Pittin (ITA)
4.  Todd Lodwick (USA)
5.  Mario Stecher (AUT)
6.  Bill Demong (USA)
7.  Norihito Kobayashi (JPN)
8.  Anssi Koivuranta (FIN)
9.  Magnus Moan (NOR)
10.  Eric Frenzel (GER)
11.  Ronny Heer (SUI)
12.  Pavel Churavy (CZE)
13.  Hannu Manninen (FIN)
14.  Felix Gottwald (AUT)
15.  David Kreiner (AUT)
16.  Lukas Runggaldier (ITA)
17.  Petter L. Tande (NOR)
18.  Tino Edelmann (GER)
19.  Sebastien LaCroix (FRA)
20.  Tomas Slavik (CZE)
21.  Akito Watabe (JPN)
22.  Björn Kircheisen (GER)
23.  Jan Schmid (NOR)
24.  Taihei Kato (JPN)
25.  Christoph Bieler (AUT)

Men's moguls was capped by another historic win.  Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau edged out defending gold medalist from Torino Dale Begg-Smith of Australia as well as American Bryon Wilson to claim Canada's first home gold medal (Canada had not won gold in either the 1976 Montreal Summer Games or the 1988 Calgary Winter Games).

Men's Moguls Final Standings
1.  Alexandre Bilodeau (CAN)
2.  Dale Begg-Smith (AUS)
3.  Bryon Wilson (USA)
4.  Vincent Marquis (CAN)
5.  Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (CAN)
6.  Guilbaut Colas (FRA)
7.  Sho Endo (JPN)
8.  Jesper Bjoernlund (SWE)
9.  Nobuyuki Nishi (JPN)
10.  Alexandr Smyshlyaev (RUS)
11.  Maxime Gingras (CAN)
12.  Pierre Ochs (FRA)
13.  Denis Dolgodvorov (RUS)
14.  Mikko Ronkainen (FIN)
15.  Michael Morse (USA)
16.  Arttu Kiramo (FIN)
17.  Yugo Tsukita (JPN)
18.  Dmitriy Reiherd (KAZ), Patrick Deneen (USA), Nate Roberts (USA)*

*run not scored, tied for last

Additional events were run in biathlon, luge, and long track speed skating.

Men's 10km Sprint (Biathlon) Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Vincent Jay (FRA), Gold medalist
2.  Emile Hegle Svendsen (NOR), Silver medalist
3.  Jakov Fak (CRO), Bronze medalist
4.  Klemen Bauer (SLO)
5.  Andriy Deryzemlya (UKR)
6.  Jean Philippe Leguellec (CAN)
7.  Pavol Hurajt (SVK)
8.  Björn Ferry (SWE)
9.  Jeremy Teela (USA)
10.  Ivan Tcherezov (RUS)

Men's Singles (Luge) Final Standings (Top Ten)
1.  Felix Loch (GER), Gold medalist
2.  David Moeller (GER), Silver medalist
3.  Armin Zoeggeler (ITA), Bronze medalist
4.  Albert Demtschenko (RUS)
5.  Andi Langenhan (GER)
6.  Daniel Pfister (AUT)
7.  Samuel Edney (CAN)
8.  Tony Benshoof (USA)
9.  Wolfgang Kindl (AUT)
10.  Manuel Pfister (AUT)

Long Track Speed Skating:  Women's 3000m
1.  Martina Sablikova (CZE), Gold medalist
2.  Stephanie Beckert (GER), Silver medalist
3.  Kristina Groves (CAN), Bronze medalist
4.  Daniela Anschuetz-Thoms (GER)
5.  Clara Hughes (CAN)
6.  Masako Hozumi (JPN)
7.  Ireen Wust (NED)
8.  Maren Haugli (NOR)
9.  Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. (USA)
10.  Renate Groenewold (NED)