The ski jumping took place with a trial round at 09:00 PST and the competition round at 10:00 PST.[1] One jump in competition was scored similar to that of ski jumping. Finland's Ryynänen had the longest jump to grab the lead after the jump.[6]
The start for the 10 kilometre race was staggered, with a one-point deficit in the ski jump portion resulting in a four-second deficit in starting the cross-country course. This stagger meant that the first athlete across the finish line would be the overall winner of the event. Cross-country skiing's part of the competition took place at 13:45 PST that same day.[1]
Ryynänen would lead until close to the end of the last part of the first lap before taking a spill where he never recovered. The Finn would finish 26th. A group of eight skiers developed during the middle part of the race which had Bill Demong move from 24th to the final lead group by the 7.5 km mark. Japan's Norihito Kobayashi grabbed the lead with 800 m left only to be passed by Johnny Spillane of the US, France's Jason Lamy-Chappuis, Italy's Alessandro Pittin, and Spillane's teammate Lodwick. Lamy-Chappuis passed Spillane right before the final sprint though Spillane mounted a final charge that fell 0.4 seconds short. Norway's Magnus Moan had the fastest time in the cross-country skiing portion of the event to move from 40th to ninth. It was the first individual medal for all three competitors, along with being the first medals for both the US and Italy in Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics.[7] Italy's best finish prior to this event in Nordic combined was fifth by Ezio Damolin at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.[8]
^Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Nordic Combined: Individual". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. pp. 273-4.
^Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Nordic Combined: Individual". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 273.