Japan missed out on a second Nordic combined medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics on Thursday when it crossed the line a distant fourth in the team event.

The Japan team of normal hill silver medalist Akito Watabe, his brother Yoshito, Hideaki Nagai and Go Yamamoto crossed the line 2 minutes, 8.8 seconds behind gold medalist Germany, which swept the Nordic combined events at these games.

Germany joined Finland as the only countries to win three Nordic combined gold medals at a single Olympics. Japan won team gold in 1992 and 1994, but has not medaled since.

Defending champion Norway skied away from Austria late in the final leg to claim silver, 52.7 seconds behind the winner. Austria was third, just over a minute ahead of Japan.

Japan had pinned its hopes on overall World Cup leader Akito Watabe, but the anchor got the tap from Yamamoto almost a minute behind then third-place Norway.

Watabe tried to take the blame off Yamamoto, who was in tears following the race.

"What can you do?" Watabe said. "Yamamoto really took it personally and was crying after the race, but in the end, I don't think it would have made much of a difference who skied that leg."

"This is how good we are at this point in time."

Japan jumped to 455.3 points to leave the team with a 19-second, cross-country deficit behind Austria. Germany scored 464.7 to start just six seconds behind Austria, a gap it quickly closed before skiing into the distance in the 4x5-kilometer relay.

As the German quartet of Vinzenz Geiger, Fabian Riessle, Eric Frenzel and Johannes Rydzek turned the contest into a one-horse race with every skate of their skis, the Japanese were only in the conversation until halfway through the ski leg.

When Nagai made the second exchange to Yamamoto, Japan was only five seconds out of third and six behind Austria, then in second. But Austria's Bernhard Gruber and Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber pounced, driving up the pace to leave Yamamoto heaving in the snow.

Yamamoto said he was marked by the Norwegians and Austrians, and could not counter.

"Norway and Austria were flying from the start and I just couldn't keep up," the 23-year-old first-time Olympian said. "I wanted to hand things over to Akito while we were close to the others, but I couldn't. Bottom line is I wasn't good enough."

"I had to overexert from the beginning, was skiing at a pace I'd never experienced before. They were out to get me, their plan all along was to try to pull away against me -- and it worked."

"I feel terrible because I ruined everything. We were coming along well as a team and in a position to go for a medal."

Japan coach Takanori Kono felt his team still had every shot at the podium despite being third after the jumping phase. Japan had said it wanted to top the jumping portion to make up for a lack of speed and stamina on the cross-country course.

"I don't think our medal chances were at zero. I thought we had a chance," Kono said. "Akito is faster than (Austrian anchor) Mario Seidl so even if he was around 10 seconds behind, he could overtake Seidl."

"But if he's behind by a minute, then it's going to be difficult."

The Germans were so dominant that the Norwegians were more than content settling for second.

"Germany was better than us today and they have been the best team this past few weeks and it was well deserved, the gold medal for them today," said Joergen Graabak.

"Of course we were hoping to give them some more fight, but we're just happy with the silver today. It's a victory for us."

Japan missed out on its second Nordic combined medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics on Thursday, when it crossed the line fourth in the team event.

The Japanese team, made up of normal hill silver medalist Akito Watabe, his brother Yoshito Watabe, Hideaki Nagai and Go Yamamoto crossed the line 2 minutes, 8.8 seconds behind the German team which, with this win, swept the Nordic combined gold medals in South Korea.

(Getty)

Defending champion Norway, which passed Japan early in the cross-country race to book a top-three finish at worst, skied away from Austria late in the final leg to claim silver, 52.7 seconds behind the winner. Austria crossed third, just over a minute ahead of Japan.

Earlier in the day, Japan's four jumpers scored 455.3 points to leave the team with a 19-second, cross-country deficit behind Austria.

Germany scored 464.7 points and started just six seconds behind the front-running team, a gap it quickly closed before skiing into the distance in the 4x5-kilometer cross-country relay.

Japan won team gold in 1992 and 1994 but has not medaled since.

Japan will start the cross-country leg of the Nordic combined team event in third on Thursday, 19 seconds behind first-place Austria and six seconds after Germany.

Akito and Yoshito Watabe, Hideaki Nagai and Go Yamamoto combined for 455.3 points in the ski jumping portion ahead of the 4x5-kilometer cross-country race.

Norway, the defending champion seeking a record third gold medal in the team event, will start fourth, eight seconds behind Japan.

"It would have been nice to be first going into the cross country, but at least we're starting ahead of teams who can really ski, like Norway," Akito Watabe said.

"We'd like to get a hold of Austria early but they're in the position of being able to use Germany who are right behind them. I think it'll depend on how Norway comes out."

"I don't want to make the same mistakes I did in the large hill," he said of his final-lap fade that saw him finish fifth in Tuesday's individual competition. "We have a chance, though, so we have to keep fighting until the end."

Japan won back-to-back golds in the team event in 1992 and 1994, but has not medaled since.