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Shelley Osterloh ReportingThe Nordic Combined starts tomorrow. The event requires athletes to ski jump and race cross-country, and it's hard for athletes to train for both events. Shelley Osterloh takes a look at some of the challenges athletes have, while training for the Nordic Combined.
Johnny Spillane: "The hard part about Nordic Combined is that the sports are exact opposites."
Johnny Spillane has been on the US Nordic Combined team for six years and he's already a two-time Olympian. But he admits it's not easy training for both events involved in the Nordic Combined -- ski jumping and cross country racing.
Johnny Spillane: "Jumping, you want to be a really small, light guy, super explosive, it's extremely technical. Cross country, you want to be a bigger heavy stronger guy with a huge engine. And uh, just kind of bull headed."
Fellow teammate Carl Van Loan has been on the US team for seven years and he agrees, it's not easy training for both sports.
Carl Van Loan: "Some days you can really feel good in one and not in the other so it's really a chore, a task I should say, to balance the both and be at the top level in both sports."
When Utah Olympic Park closes in October, the combiners shift from ski jumping to the dry land part of training. They mix running and roller-skiing with strength workouts.
Billy Demong has also been a part of the Nordic Combined team for seven years. Even though the event has it's challenges, Demong says the US team will be a medal contender in Torino.
Billy Demong: "We do our homework, we work hard, we train hard, we prepare well mentally and physically and that way when we get to a comp we're not stressing."
