NOTES

The four-man bobsled team of USA I had the third-fastest combined time among 40 teams on the first day of practice runs Monday. Driver Randy Will, side pushers Joe Sawyer and Karlos Kirby and brakeman Herschel Walker had a two-run time of 2:00.68. Their time of 1:00.21 was the best for the first run.

“They’ve got their teamwork down,” Coach John Philbin said. “It’s looking very, very good. . . . Everybody was just getting a feel for the track on the first two runs. You’ll see the Germans come on very strong in the next two days. The Swiss will bring their times down.

“I’d say our guys were going about 85%. It’s important that you go strong in practice so you know what’s going on in the real thing.”

The U.S. Nordic combined team was a surprising fourth after Monday’s team jumping off the normal ski hill. The 30-kilometer cross-country relay will complete the event today, and although the American team is not as strong in cross-country as it is in jumping, the squad has a chance at the best Nordic combined finish for a U.S. team.

Joe Holland of Norwich, Vt., led the U.S. jumpers, going 85 meters on each of his jumps. Ryan Heckman of Steamboat Springs, Colo., had jumps of 86.5 and 82 meters and Tim Tetreault, also of Norwich, went 82.5 and 81. His 88-meter jump was wiped out when the first round was restarted from lower on the slide because jumpers were overskiing the critical point on the landing hill.

Leading the United States are Japan, Austria and Germany, all strong in cross-country skiing.

A funny thing happened to biathlete Jon Engen of Bozeman, Mont., Sunday in the men’s relay event. Uros Velepec of Slovenia shot at Engen’s targets on the firing range.

“You never see that in this kind of competition,” said Engen, the lead-off skier for the United States.

Because Velepec already had shot at his targets, Engen had to wait until the targets were reset. He later got a 30-second time credit, but the delay at the range left him behind the front-runners.

When it comes to the U.S. curling team here, it’s strictly a family affair.

The Bud Somerville rink of Superior, Wis., is representing the United States in the demonstration sport. Somerville and Bill Strum are brothers-in-law, and the rest of their rink consists of their sons, Tim Somerville and Mike Strum.