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WHISTLER, British Columbia - Heading into the Vancouver Olympics, no American had ever won a gold medal in nordic skiing at the winter games.

Vermontville's Bill Demong put an end to that Thursday at the Whistler Olympic Park, winning the Olympics' final nordic combined event to lead a one-two sweep of the podium with United States teammate Johnny Spillane.

After a controversial jumping competition that saw the first round scrapped and restarted after more than 30 competitors had already jumped, Demong and Spillane both stood in solid position heading into the afternoon's 10-kilometer cross country race. Austria's Bernard Gruber, who wound up with the bronze medal, was first off the starting line after having the top jump of the day. He started 34 seconds ahead of Spillane, who had the second-best jump, and 46 seconds in front of Demong, who was sixth in the jump.

But Demong and Spillane erased their deficits quickly as they cut Gruber's edge to less than a second and turned this into a three-skier race as they left all the others well behind.

Demong and Spillane then teamed up and took control. As the race progressed, the question became who would reach the finish line first: Demong or Spillane?

Demong answered that after the pair entered the stadium and headed for home on the final lap 2.5k lap. Still looking strong, he opened the gap over Spillane and crossed the finish line four seconds ahead of his teammate. Demong turned in the second-fastest cross country time in the 45-skier field, completing the course in 24 minutes, 46.9 seconds.

"I don't think either one of us cared who was going to get first or second," Demong said. "The major difference today was Johnny and I were really, really fit. We were able to go out as hard as we could and ski away from everybody else."

For each of them, the medal was the second in three days as they joined with Todd Lodwick and Brett Camerota to take silver in Tuesday's team relay. Spillane also captured an individual silver medal in the first Olympic nordic combined competition on Feb. 14.

"We came here to win medals, and we did that," said Demong, whose nickname is "Iron Bill." "The conditions for the jump were tough, but no matter how windy and snowy it was, we were going to do our best. We put ourselves in a good position to medal during the jump. In the race, the plan was to work on Bernhard Gruber, and it worked out."

While Demong and Spillane moved ahead of Gruber, Todd Lodwick, the third member of the U.S. nordic combined team's veteran trio of close friends, was helping out further back in the field by keeping other skiers at bay as he attempted to prevent a breakout that could possibly threaten his two teammates up front.

"This is new territory for us," Demong said. "This was a good day for teamwork. He (Lodwick) did the job for the team today."

Lodwick finished 13th in the competition.

Spillane and Demong compared the strategy they used on their skis to teamwork in a bike race, which was fitting since the Americans were over in France during the summer, training by riding legs of the Tour de France.

"Doing the Tour de France stages was a way of finding an alternative way for us old guys to train instead of getting really bored with our roller skis," said Demong, who was competing in his fourth Olympic Winter Games. "We didn't even bring roller skis on that trip."

"About a lap-and-a-half in, Billy and I were pretty confident we'd be in the medals," Spillane added. "It didn't matter who was one and two. When we were skiing into the stadium, it was great being able to enjoy the last three or four hundred meters. It was a lot of fun. Both Billy and I felt really good today, and I didn't think anyone was going to catch us."

After being blanked from the medals in every previous Olympic nordic combined competition, the Americans collected three silvers and a gold. Spillane said that road to success started following a disappointing fourth-place finish the Americans experienced at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. A year later, Spillane got things going when he captured a World Championship medal, and since then, all three veterans have won at both the World Cup and World Championship levels.

"Not medaling in Salt Lake, that hurt," Spillane said. "I think that's what really inspired us to work hard to get where we are now. That's where the road to these Olympics began. Watching Billy get the first American nordic gold medal was really sentimental."

With Demong and Spillane in control on the course, Gruber, who was a member of Austria's winning relay team Tuesday, said he was happy to finish third while capturing his second medal of the Vancouver Olympics. He had the 19th-fastest cross country result, 25:43.7, but was able to hold on to reach the podium. The next closest competitor was Finland's Hannu Manninen, who took fourth more than 33 seconds off Demong's gold-medal result. Gruber finished nearly seven seconds behind Spillane.

"I knew that the two strong men sitting next to me were coming," Gruber said at the post-race press conference. "I just tried to stay behind them because they were really fast. They were too fast for me. I'm really happy with the bronze. It's awesome. It's a dream come true."

When asked about his feelings about winning the first nordic gold medal in U.S. Olympic history, Demong said he only thought about it briefly.

"That part hit me for about two seconds," Demong said. "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that. I'll let you know what I think in 10 or 15 years."

In interviews following Thursday's race, Demong and Spillane said they are at least, looking toward competing next year one the World Cup tour and at the World Championships. Demong said his swimming accident that resulted in a fractured skull the summer following the 2002 Olympics could have ended his days of competitive skiing, which at the time were filled with struggles to get good results. Instead, he said it might have been a blessing that helped him take a path toward Olympic glory.

"That could have been the end of my career, but it turned out to be the beginning," Demong said. "I wasn't doing very well. My being was based on results. It took me three or four years to come back after 2002, and I still didn't think I was very good then. But I think during the last three or four years, I've continually improved. I'm definitely looking at next year."

Demong also said that the team's remarkable showing at these Olympics is also just the beginning for success in the U.S. nordic combined program.

"This is not a blip on the nordic combined radar," Demong said. "We want to continue having a strong U.S. nordic combined team, and I'll do everything I can to help. Right now, I'm just going to absorb all this. I'm going to kiss my girlfriend and hug my mother a few times."

Not only did Demong kiss his girlfriend, former skeleton athlete Katie Koczinski, in the stands after his victory; he proposed to her Thursday night during a post-race party in Whistler.

And if that excitment wasn't enough, the gold medalist was also chosen by the United States Olympic Committee to carry the stars and stripes during Sunday's closing ceremonies in downtown Vancouver.