Sochi Olympics: Eric Frenzel of Germany wins nordic combined

SOCHI, Russia — Germany has won eight medals at these Games but six of them have been gold, the most of any country.

One of those on Wednesday was in the obscure sport of nordic combined, a mix of ski jumping and cross-country skiing. This time the jumping competition was off the normal hill and the cross-country covered 10 kilometers.

Eric Frenzel, the easy World Cup leader, won the competition by four seconds over Akito Watabe of Japan. Magnus Krog of Norway overcame a bad performance on the hill to win the bronze.

FRAMEWORK: Best images from Sochi

Bill Demong was the top U.S. finisher, placing 24th. Bryan Fletcher (26th) and Taylor Fletcher (33rd) also competed for the U.S. Todd Lodwick, a six-time Olympian, did not start the cross-country part of the competition.

Curling: After the U.S. men’s and women’s team got off to a combined 0-5 start, the men picked up its first win of the tournament, beating Denmark, 9-5.

“Getting a win was huge for our team and for the state of curling as far as our country goes,” skip John Shuster told the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the women lost to China, 7-4. The U.S. will likely have to win out to advance to the next round.

Hockey: The men’s tournament opened play with Sweden and Switzerland picking up wins. Erik Karlsson scored two goals for the Swedes in their 4-2 win over the Czech Republic. Simon Moser was given credit for the winning goal in the Swiss win over Latvia, 1-0. Replays indicated the puck actually went off a Latvian player in front of the net.

john.cherwa@latimes.com