Word: wintered
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...1990s, where did Nordic combined sit in America's Winter Olympic hierarchy? "We were at the bottom of the barrel," says Tom Steitz, the U.S. Nordic combined coach from 1980 to 2002. "We owned last place." Over the past decade, Steitz has led the push to snare more funding for the obscure sport, which mixes ski jumping and cross-country skiing. But he recalls the days in which Nordic combined athletes trekked through Europe like broke college students, sleeping in elementary school gyms, piling into tiny rental cars like circus clowns, begging other countries to drive their skis to events...
...nothing normal about hurling yourself 100 m off a ramp on skis). But America's second-place finish in the team event on Wednesday, behind gold-medal winner Austria, was even sweeter, as it showed the collective strength of the program. (See the latest pictures from the 2010 Winter Games...
...Nordic combined, the sport with the terribly unsexy name, started in mid-19th century Norway. It is an anomaly in the Winter Olympics because it mixes two wildly different disciplines. Yes, both ski jumpers and cross-country racers wear skis. But other than that, you might as well mix ice dancing with speedskating and call it a day. Cross-country racing requires extreme endurance, while ski jumping requires insanity. "It is kind of stupid," says Finland's Janne Ryynaenen of the odd combination. Ryynaenen nailed the longest leap of the day, 138.5 m from the takeoff, during the ski-jumping...
...hours, and as soon as jumping is over, you go snort down a sandwich and put on your cross-country gear," says Bill Demong, a member of the U.S. Nordic combined team who is competing in his third Olympics. (See TIME's complete coverage of the 2010 Winter Games...
...Winter Olympic athletes to watch...