2006 Turin Winter Olympics Blog

Women’s bobsled

Gold Sandra Kiriasis, Anja Schneiderheinze Germany
Silver Shauna Rohbock, Valerie Fleming United States
Bronze Gerda Weissensteiner, Jennifer Isacco Italy

Nordic Combined, Sprint

Gold Felix Gottwald Austria
Silver Magnus Moan Norway
Bronze Georg Hettich Germany

Biathlon, Men’s 4×7.5km Relay

Gold Germany
Silver Russia
Bronze France

Men’s Team Pursuit

Gold Italy
Silver Canada
Bronze Netherlands

Women’s Team Pursuit

Gold Germany
Silver Canada
Bronze Russia

Nordic Combined Team

Gold Austria
Silver Germany
Bronze Finland

Normally I type all the team names, but there were way too many names in these team sports, and I can’t cut and paste them, so I have to type them. I would be typing for the next hour if I had to type that many Finnish and Russian names.

Well, you can probably guess it has something to do with skiing. You’re right. Nordic combined is an Olympic sport that combines cross-country skiing with ski jumping. There is no women’s event in this sport in the Olympics.

There are actually three Olympic events that fall within the broader category of Nordic Combined— Individual Gundersen, Sprint, and Team.

In Individual Gundersen, each competitor first takes two jumps. The jumps are scored on distance and styles. The resulting points then determine who starts where for the 15 km cross-country skiing race that makes up the second half of the event.

In the Sprint, competitors only get one jump. This is followed by a 7.5 km cross-country race. Again, starting positions are determined by the points from the ski jumping.

In Team, there are four jumpers who each take two jumps. The team’s score in the jumping portion is the total score of the eight jumps. Then the team members compete in the 4×5km relay. The same method used in the other events is used to determine start position. The winner is the team whose final skier crosses the finish line first.