Normal Hill / 10 km, Individual, Men

This was the first Nordic combined event of the 2010 Winter Olympics and one of the first competitions decided in Vancouver. The World Cup leader in 2009-10 was American-born Frenchman Jason Lamy-Chappuis, who had five wins, but he had been strongest in the early season and had not won an event since 19 December. The jumping lead was taken by Finn Janne Ryynänen, but he was known to be a very weak skier. In second was American Todd Lodwick, the 2009 World Champion, followed by Austrian Christoph Bieler, Johnny Spillane of the United States, and then Lamy-Chappuis in fifth. The best ski time was posted by Magnus Moan (NOR) but he had been only 40th in the jumping. Lamy-Chappuis started out the run 46 seconds back but moved into the lead group early. He was pushed by Americans Spillane, Lodwick, and Bill Demong, who came from far back after his =24th place in the jump. In the end the final sprint came down to Lamy-Chappuis, Spillane, and Italian Alessandro Pittin, who finished in that order. Spillane’s silver medal was the first ever medal won in Nordic combined for the United States. The Americans also placed fourth (Lodwick) and sixth (Demong). For Lamy-Chappuis it was his first Olympic medal after placing fourth in the sprint and fifth in the team event in Torino. Lamy-Chappuis had been born in Montana to an American mother and French father, but the family moved to France when he was five. He had won two bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships and would go on to win the 2009-10 World Cup title.