Feb. 28, 2003 (Val Di Fiemme, Italy) – Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO), picking up confidence because of fast skis, broke open the nordic combined sprint Friday (Feb 28) at the 2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in the final 150 meters and won the first nordic gold medal for the United States in Olympic or World Championships history. The individual champion, Ronny Ackermann of Germany, was second, Felix Gottwald of Austria third.

NBC will have Worlds coverage Sunday 1-3 p.m. EST.

“Our wax team gave me great skis,” said Spillane, who was fourth behind three Germans – Georg Hettich, Ronny Ackermann and newcomer Matthias Benz, after jumping. “I was riding Fischer rockets. Rob [Powers, chief technician], OJ [Oyaseter, combined waxing tech] and the rest of the guys – we've got an awesome waxing team – did a great job.”

In grabbing the first nordic combined medal of any color, he finished 1.3 seconds ahead of the other medalists (a photo finish was decided in Ackermann's favor by the jury) with Hettich fourth, 2.1 seconds out. Todd Lodwick (also Steamboat) was 26th after jumping and moved up to 19th in the 7.5-km while Jed Hinkley (Andover, NH) was 37th and Carl Van Loan (Webster, NH) 41st.

LEAD PACK FORMED QUICKLY

Spillane started the three-lap, 7.5-km race 28 seconds behind Hettich, two seconds back of Menz, whom he quickly passed. Gottwald, in seventh place after jumping, was 35 seconds out, but he closed on Spillane in just over a kilometer and they skied up to Ackermann and Hettich, creating a lead pack of four.

They skied together into the third lap. Spillane said he was able to rest for about 30 seconds as the group – with Spillane tagging along easily in fourth – slowed its pace for a while. “That gave me the break I needed. I knew I had great skis and with that I was really set to go.”

As they came out of the hills, carrying speed to the big roller leading in to the stadium, Spillane – who had three top-3s in December in 48 hours in Trondheim, Norway – said he knew he was in good shape for a medal, perhaps to win.

“I was definitely surprised with the result,” a wide-grinning Spillane, 22 and a graduate of Steamboat's Whiteman School, told journalists. “I was going, and I just started skiing as fast as I could. It's a surprise to me – I've never sprinted like that – but I knew I was in good position for a medal…and maybe to win.”

DID ACKERMANN AND GOTTWALD FORGET SPILLANE?

Gottwald and Ackermann, who each earned three medals at the championships, looked at each other during a post-race press conference and said they hadn't been caught napping when Spillane came tearing into the final meters. “We overlooked nobody,” said Gottwald, who collected the bronze to go with his individual silver and team gold. Ackermann, the World Cup leader and defending World Cup champion, won the opening event and anchored the silver-medal team relay. “Johnny was behind us but he was the strongest in the end,” Gottwald added.

Spillane's view: “They were playing around at the top on the third lap, and nobody wanted to lead. I really had a good chance to recover for maybe 30 seconds, which was just what I needed. And then they went again and it was fast to the finish, the last K and a half we were really moving and fortunately, I had enough strength to stay with them for the medals. I don't think they realized I had as fast skis as I did.” He posted the sixth-fastest 7.5-km time in skiing to gold.

As he prepared for the post-race media blitz, Spillane, who skied in a lightweight white ski cap, reached into his backpack and pulled out a (dry) black baseball cap with STEAMBOAT written across the front, representing the Steamboat Ski Corp., which has sponsored him throughout his career. “Y'know,” he said to his coaches, “I just figured, as we headed out this morning, 'Maybe I better bring this.' Good thing.”

Spillane, who grew up two blocks from Steamboat's Howelsen Hill (“Every morning I looked out there and saw people jumping and I just wanted to be part of that sport,” he said), said moving to the K120 hill – away from the 95-meter hill used in the individual event – was a big boost.

SPILLANE CHANNELED NERVOUSNESS IN POSITIVE WAY

He was “nervous' in the start, he explained, but that's better than being worried. After some psychological counseling by Ski Team sport psychologist John Anderson following his disappointing 24th in the individual comp, Spillane said he was ready for the sprint. “Nervous is okay, that means you have some expectations; the problem comes when you're worried,” he said.

“I like big-hill jumping. I think the K95, and all small hills, are just more boring…and I didn't ski well on the 95-meter,” he said. “I was really happy to get to the bigger jump; the bigger the jump the better it is for me.”

He also said he and jumping Coach Corby Fisher had gone over basic technique, tweaking his style so he can take advantage of his good feeling for Predazzo's 120-meter jump. Spillane had the longest jump in the final training round Thursday and third-longest jump in the trial round Friday.

Making the victory even more enjoyable was the fact Spillane's parents – Nancy and Jim – plus younger sister Katie were in the sun-bathed crowd as temperatures rose into the upper 40s once again. His younger brother Ben is still in school in Steamboat. (Spillane cashed-in frequent flyer miles on United Airlines as a birthday surprise for his sister so she could attend the championships.)

U.S. Head Coach Bard Elden said, “Jumping, he was back to where he can jump to; both Corby and I knew where he can jump to, and in cross country, the whole season it's been 'Does he go today or doesn't he?' He's been very inconsistent.

ELDEN: “HE JUST LOOKED AT ME AND NODDED”

“I told him, trying to convince him, he can be one of the fastest skiers out there. Today, he was confident. He totally went inside himself and did his race. He came up that last hill and I told him 'There's 17 seconds to [Norway's Kristian] Hammer' and he just looked at me and nodded.” Spillane wasn't concerned about anyone behind him, “I only looked forward today,” he said.

Lodwick, in tears in the finish area while Hinkley and Van Loan were leading the shouts of jubilation with various forms of rodeo yells, said, “These are tears of joy. I won the world juniors championships in Italy [Asiago, 1996] and Johnny wins in Italy today. There's no sweeter music than hearing your national anthem when they raise the flags of the guys on the podium. This is almost beyond unreal.”

The USA had won only three previous nordic medals in Olympic or World Championships – none in combined: Jumper Anders Haugen's bronze at the 1924 Olympics, the first Winter Games in Chamonix, France – although he didn't get the medal until 1974 when Norwegian historian Jakob Vaage discovered a scoring error that moved Haugen from fourth to third (Haugen accepted the medal from the daughter of the by-then-deceased previous “medalist” in special ceremonies in Oslo); and Bill Koch's silver in the Olympic 30-km in Seefeld, Austria, in 1976, and his 30-km bronze at the 1982 World Championships in Oslo.

2003 FIS NORDIC WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Predazzo Jumping Stadium/Lago di Tesero tracks
Val di Fiemme, ITA, Feb. 28/03

Nordic Combined Sprint
One K120 jump/7.5-km FR race
1. Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO, (4/6)
2. Ronny Ackermann, Germany, (2/16T) 1.3 seconds back (higher on photo finish)
3. Felix Gottwald, Austria, (7/5) 1.3
4. Georg Hettich, Germany, (1/22) 2.1
5. Kenneth Braaten, Norway, (17/1) 12.8
–
19. Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, CO, (26/9) 1:23.5
37. Jed Hinkley, Andover, NH, (41/29) 2:38.3
41. Carl Van Loan, Webster, NH, (49/15) 2:44.0