U.S. nordic-combined athletes, including Steamboat Springs’ Johnny Spillane and Todd Lodwick, go for a medal today in the team event. But the fate of the team might be in the hands of Clarke Sullivan, the wax technician. “It’s OK if someone’s more fit than you,” said John Farra, U.S. nordic director, “but it’s not OK to lose a ski race when there’s not enough time to test the wax.” In the 2002 Olympic nordic-combined team event, the U.S. was third after the jump, with skiers fast enough for bronze, even silver. But the wax was wrong, and the U.S. finished fourth. Eight years later, three racers from that team — Spillane, Lodwick and Bill Demong — return for redemption. They have confidence in Sullivan, hired at the beginning of a season that saw them win three world championship medals in 2009.
Denver Post wire services
