VANCOUVER, British Columbia--What a bonanza. The U.S. Nordic combined team—which had never medaled in 86 years of Olympic competition—now has four medals in the three Olympic events.

The USA's Bill Demong races to the finish for gold ahead of second-place teammate Johnny Spillane in the Nordic Combined Individual Large Hill/10km Cross-Country event during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. (United Press International)

Billy Demong won the USA’s first Nordic combined gold medal in the Large Hill/10km Cross-Country competition in Whistler on Thursday.

"It definitely has not sunk in,” Demong said. “But every hour or so I get two seconds of a glimpse at that reality and it gives me chills."

Teammate Johnny Spillane finished just four seconds behind for his third silver medal of the games. He’s only the fourth Olympian in history to medal in all three Nordic combined events in the same games.

“It's been a great thrill to finally contribute to the U.S. medal count,” said Spillane, of Steamboat Springs, Colo. “We've worked really hard to get to this point."

Both Spillane and Demong won silver medals as part of the U.S. crew in the team competition earlier this week. And Spillane won the U.S. its first Nordic Combined medal in history in the Normal Hill/10km Cross-Country event on Feb. 14.

"To be able to get a medal in the first event felt like it lifted the weight off my shoulders,” Spillane said. “I was able to relax and enjoy the next two events even more."

Both competing in their fourth Olympics, Spillane was in second after the ski jumping round and Demong was in sixth. The teammates worked together through the cross-country course to a sprint finish after passing Austria’s Bernhard Gruber, who won bronze.

"Midway through the second lap we knew we were pretty well clear and it was just going to be a fight between three people," Spillane said. "The idea was to have Bill and I in the first two, so we kept trading the lead and kept doing big accelerations and slowing down in big decelerations. We worked together almost like a bike race, because we did have some room to play with."

The U.S. Nordic combined team’s story is one of perseverance and brotherhood. Demong and Spillane, along with Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, have been the three musketeers of U.S. Nordic combined for a dozen years. Their program was the little engine that could and finally did—fighting since the ‘90s for a spot on the podium.

 “To watch this team go from just showing up at the big events to being contenders has been a pretty incredible experience,” Spillane said.

“It’s been a long time breaking onto the world stage in Nordic combined and being accepted in that community,” Demong said. “It started with Todd in the ‘90s.”

Lodwick, who jumped during particularly windy conditions, started the cross-country portion behind his teammates.  But the five-time Olympian played the pack strategically to help Demong and Spillane along, finishing in 13th.

"I knew that if I could go hard and go the way I wanted to, I had a chance for third place," Lodwick said. "But once I knew that those guys were kind of going away, I kind of ran tactics and jumped in front and slowed the pace down."

"Todd did everything he could for us in controlling the group behind us,” said Demong, who hails from Vermontville, NY. “I know that he's extremely happy and satisfied that the two of us were able to make the podium today. He's entitled to this medal as much as I am."

Their perseverance and teamwork is the epitome of the Olympic spirit itself, and they will no doubt inspire a new generation of ski jumpers and cross-country racers.

“It will definitely draw more people into the sport,” said Tom Steitz, the U.S. team coach. “It’s not like after-school soccer, but we will pick up more kids for sure.”

Hey, General Mills, get these guys on a Wheaties box, stat.

Follow Karla’s Olympic coverage right here and Twitter@KBruning.

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