At the 2010 Winter Olympics, in Vancouver, Spillane competed in three events. In his first event, the 10 km individual normal hill event, Spillane won the silver medal – the first American medal in the sport of Nordic Combined, and only the third American medal to be earned in any Nordic sport. After the ski jumping portion of the event, Finnish competitor Janne Ryynänen was in the lead. Spillane, Jason Lamy-Chappuis, and a number of other skiers raced hard to make up the difference with Ryyänen in the cross-country portion of the event. In the middle of the last lap, after Norihito Kobayashi attempted a breakaway and was caught, Spillane took a strong lead. However, he had overexerted himself and slowed down after entering the stadium where the race was to finish. Lamy-Chappuis was able to catch up and pass him in the final stretch. The .4 second difference between their times is the closest finish in the history of Nordic Combined events at the Olympics. Despite the near win, Spillane told media afterwards that he was happy to have won any medal.