As Ryota Yamamoto crossed the finish line, he thrust his arms into air before skiing into the waiting arms of his delirious teammates. Japan had just ended an Olympic medal drought in the Nordic combined team event that had lasted nearly three decades.
Akito Watabe picked up his second medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics when he combined Hideaki Nagai, brother Yoshito Watabe and Yamamoto to place third on Thursday, Japan's first medal in the team event since capturing the second of back-to-back golds at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.
