The Japanese twins of Kenji and Tsugiharu Ogiwara labored to tame their home cross country course, finishing in fourth and sixth place respectively Saturday in the Nagano Olympic Nordic combined event.

The results were disappointing for Japanese spectators who had packed the stands at the finish area and lined some parts of the hilly track, hoping for at least one of them to be standing on the medals podium at the end of a rain-soaked day.

''We're happy to get such big support and I think I did my best,'' said Kenji, who was bidding for an elusive Olympic individual event medal. ''I was fourth in Lillehammer four years ago and fourth again this time. Maybe that's life.''

Kenji has won the world championship title twice and became the overall World Cup champion three times. He has also been a member of two Japanese squads that have won the team event gold in 1992 and 1994.

The brilliant career has made Kenji one of Japan's sports celebrities and expectations were high before the Nagano Games that he would at last win that final crowning jewel.

''I'm disappointed that I couldn't win a medal but I can't complain considering my poor form this season,'' noted Kenji, who is currently standing in 14th place in the World Cup standings.

Kenji started ninth in the cross country leg 1 minute, 30 seconds behind the leader and eventual winner Bjarte Engen Vik of Norway, a rival he had beaten a number of times in the past.

He moved up into a four-man group chasing the top three runners and waged a duel with twin Tsugiharu for much of the second half of the 15-kilometer race.

On Friday, Tsugiharu, ranked only 44th in the world, stole the spotlight from Kenji with a third-place performance in the ski jumping portion of the two-day competition.

''It felt like I was dreaming as I was running alongside the famous Kenji Ogiwara,'' quipped Tsugiharu.

He was overtaken by silver medalist Samppa Lajunen of Finland in the very early part of the race and saw his medal chances fade further as the competition wore on.

''I don't regret the result. We have a lot of medals at home, which Kenji has won and I believe I'm equipped with the same engine as Kenji because we're twins,'' Tsugiharu said.

Tsugiharu himself has a decent record at international competitions. Teaming up with Kenji, he won the team gold at the 1995 world championships while placing fourth in the 1994-1995 World Cup rankings for his best performance thus far.

Tsugiharu narrowly missed a berth with the Japanese delegation to the Lillehammer Games and his vocal criticism about the process of selecting team members stirred up a controversy among national ski officials.

The 28-year-old residents of Nagano Prefecture have one more opportunity to stand on the Olympic medals podium next Friday after teaming up Thursday and Friday in the Nordic team event. (Kyodo News)