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Doubling up Finns capture gold, silver in Nordic combinedPosted: Sunday February 10, 2002 11:58 AMUpdated: Sunday February 10, 2002 5:42 PM
MIDWAY, Utah (AP) -- Samppa Lajunen led Finland to a 1-2 finish Sunday in the opening Nordic combined competition of the Salt Lake Winter Games, picking up his first Olympic gold and Finland's first gold in the individual combined in 54 years. Lajunen started the 15-kilometer cross country skiing portion third on the wave start behind Jaakko Tallus -- who held No. 1 spot following Saturday's ski jumping - but overhauled his compatriot on the second lap and finished in 39 minutes, 11.7 seconds. Tallus, a top ski jumper on the Nordic combined circuit but a relatively poor cross country skier, finished a surprising second, 24.7 seconds behind. World Cup leader Felix Gottwald of Austria produced the fastest cross country run (37:23.5) in the 44-man field at Soldier Hollow as he stormed from 11th place out of the start to edge German Ronny Ackermann for bronze, finishing almost 55 seconds behind Lajunen. Ackermann had a grip on third for the bulk of the second and third laps on the 5km course but couldn't hold out a fast-finishing Gottwald on the last uphill rise. Lajunen, who won silver in the individual and team Nordic combined events at the Nagano Olympics in Japan four years ago, started the cross country race 53 seconds behind Tallus and five seconds behind Austrian Mario Stecher, who held second place after the ski jumping section. As he entered the home stretch, the 22-year-old, his hair dyed blue and white, grabbed a Finnish flag from the cheering gallery and carried it the final 100 meters to victory. "This day is perfect," Lajunen said. "After the jumping I knew I had a good chance but I needed a good ski today ... I had that kind of day. "After the last World Cup, I was not feeling very good or very confident, but for the last two weeks my training has been perfect. It's hard work to be 23 years old and win an Olympic medal." An emotional Lajunen dropped his pace over the last few meters to savor the moment. "At the end I was just thinking how am I going to get up that hill with this heavy flag because I was so tired after 15 kilometers," added Lajunen, who said he dyed his hair blue last week because he likes to take a new look into every major meet. It was Finland's first gold medal and first 1-2 finish in the individual Nordic Combined since 1948, when Heikki Hasu and Martti Huuhtala claimed the top two spots. "I was a bit surprised [Ackermann] didn't come from behind, but maybe he didn't have his best skiing day," Lajunen said. "Because of that, I was able to stay together with Jaakko and there was no fear of anything or anyone. "I was thinking a lot about Jaakko -- he had his best skiing day ever - and I was trying to help him four a few kilometers but I didn't have patience enough to stay with him," in the end.
Lajunen overtook Stecher within 2 km of the start and then passed Tallus after 6.5 km. The pair were neck-and-neck for the middle third of the race until Lajunen opened a 10-second gap at the 10km-mark and extended on each marker until the end. Tallus said he was amazed to get silver, adding that he'd aimed for a bronze medal at best. Gottwald, who leads the World Cup standings this season, said he had to stay calm and not start too fast so he could mount a challenge on the final lap. "I just closed my eyes going into that last up hill and I gave everything I had in my arms and legs and it was just enough," to get the bronze, he said. "I'm satisfied with any Olympic medal, that was my only aim after the ski jumps." Gottwald said it was disappointed with his ski jumping and it was tough to remain optimistic "But I thought since there were big gaps in the ski jump, so maybe there would be big gaps in the cross country too," he said. "I tried not to start too fast, conserve my power for the last lap and stay positive. Bjoern Kircheisen placed 5th, almost 30 seconds behind German teammate Ackermann, while Stecher slipped back to 6th. Todd Lodwick gave the United States its best ever result in a men's individual combined when he placed 7th, almost 2 1/2 minutes behind the winner. Kristian Hammer of Norway was 8th, followed by Andy Hartmann of
Switzerland, Nicolas Bal of France and Japan's Kenji Ogiwara, a
two-time Olympic gold medalist in the teams event, was 11th.
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