|
|
NORDIC
COMBINEDSwitching Gears - washingtonpost.com graphic
Finland’s
Samppa Lajunen, freed from the Olympic shadow of celebrated countryman
Bjarte Engen Vik, swept all three events in his sport. He won the
individual race by 24.7 seconds, and six days later anchored the Finns
to a relay gold medal. He built a 15-second advantage going into the
7.5-kilometer ski portion of the sprint, and came home nine seconds
ahead of silver medalist Ronny Ackermann of Germany, ranked No. 1 in
the World Cup standings. “He was waiting for his first gold medal
quite long, and he was working very hard. Three times gold is
amazing,” said Felix Gottwald of Austria, a bronze medalist in all
three nordic combined events. Lajunen became the first Finnish athlete
to win three gold medals at one Games since ski jumper Matti Nykaenen
in 1988.
MULTIPLE MEDAL WINNERS
-
Samppa Lajunen (FIN) — gold individual; gold team; gold sprint
-
Jaakko Tallus (FIN) — silver individual ; gold team
-
Felix Gottwald (AUS) — bronze individual; bronze team; bronze sprint
-
Ronny Ackermann (GER) — silver relay; silver sprint
MEN
INDIVIDUAL
15km |
|
Samppa Lajunen (FIN) |
|
|
Jaakko Tallus (FIN) |
|
|
|
Felix Gottwald (AUT) |
|
INDIVIDUAL
SPRINT 7.5km NEW |
|
Samppa Lajunen (FIN) |
|
|
Ronny Ackermann (GER) |
|
|
|
Felix Gottwald (AUT) |
|
TEAM
4x5km RELAY |
|
FINLAND |
|
|
GERMANY |
|
|
|
AUSTRIA |
|
MEDAL TALLY |
||||
|
|
|
|
Total |
Finland |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
Germany |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
Austria |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Total |
3 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
VENUES & EVENTS
Utah Olympic
Park
Utah Olympic Park, 24 miles east of Salt Lake and four miles north
of Park City on State Route 224
Soldier Hollow
69 kilometers/43 miles from Salt Lake City
Soldier Hollow is a 518-hectare/1280-acre site at the eastern edge of Wasatch Mountain State Park is an open, largely treeless site. The projected capacity is 20,000 spectators. Elevation at the high point of competition courses is 1793 meters/5882.5 feet. Base elevation is 1670 meters/5477.6 feet and stadium elevation is 1690 meters/5544.6 feet.
Two very different venues will come into play during the nordic combined competition. The ski jumping portion will be held at Utah Olympic Park, the highest World Cup ski jumping venue in the world at 7,350 feet. The cross-country portion of the event will be contested on the wide-open plain of Soldier Hollow, where the altitude of 5,872 feet will tax the competitors.
The
individual nordic combined competition is composed of a ski jumping
competition from the normal hill and a 15-kilometer cross-country
race.
On the first day of competition, each competitor takes two jumps from
the normal hill, which measures 90 meters (about 295 feet). An
athlete's score for the ski jumping portion is the total score from
both jumps. On the second day, the athletes contest a 15km
cross-country race. Any style of cross-country skiing is allowed
(freestyle). The start order is determined by the results of the ski
jumping, with the leader starting first and the others staggered
behind based on a point-to-time conversion table. The first person to
cross the finish line is the winner.
Individual — Combines a ski jumping competition from the normal hill (90 meters high) on the first day and a 15-km freestyle cross-country race on the second day. Each competitor's two jumps are awarded points for length and style by five judges. Judges each start with 20 points and deduct marks for errors. The highest and lowest scores are eliminated.
The points leader from the ski jumping section starts first in the race with the other staggered behind him, according to time differences calculated on the official Gundersen Table which is used to translate points into time. For example, a difference of 1.5 points equates to nine seconds behind in the individual events (a slightly different scale is used in the team event). The table is named after the man who devised it, Norwegian Gunnar Gundersen. The first person to cross the line wins the gold.
Sprint — A new Olympic event. Combines a ski jumping competition from the large hill (120 meters high) on the first day with a 7.5-km freestyle cross-country race on the second day. Each man takes one jump. Again, the leader from the ski jumping starts first in the race. The other skiers start at intervals behind him, according to the time difference calculated. The first man to finish wins gold.
Team event — Four-man teams compete in a ski jumping competition on the normal hill on the first day and a 4x5-km freestyle relay race on the second day. Each of the team members makes two jumps and the team's total score determines the starting order in the relay, with the best team starting first. The same four athletes must compete in both sections of the competition. The first man across the finish line wins for his team.
