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Staying out ahead Finland wins gold in team Nordic combinedPosted: Sunday February 17, 2002 4:19 PMUpdated: Sunday February 17, 2002 4:39 PM
MIDWAY, Utah (AP) -- Finland won its second straight Nordic combined gold medal of the Olympics, using a big early lead to win the team competition on Sunday. The Finns, who entered the games without a gold medal in the ski-jumping/cross-country skiing hybrid since 1948, finished the 20-kilometer relay at Soldier Hollow in 48 minutes, 42.2 seconds. Germany used a late surge by Ronny Ackermann to catch Austrian rival Felix Gottwald for the silver medal, 7.5 seconds behind the Finns. Austria got the bronze, 11 seconds back. The United States failed in its bid to win its first medal in the sport, finishing fourth -- 1 minute, 11.9 seconds behind the winners. It was still the best finish ever by the Americans, topping their previous best of seventh in 1994. The U.S. team was a surprising third in Saturday's jumping competition at Olympic Park, and the Americans started the skiing portion six seconds ahead of Japan and 17 seconds in front of Germany. However, the Germans soon caught the first U.S. racer, Todd Lodwick. The Americans trailed by more than 37 seconds when Lodwick handed off to Bill Demong, but Demong did well on his 5K leg, cutting the Germans' advantage to just 12 seconds. Johnny Spillane couldn't keep it up, though: He gave back nearly 42 seconds on his leg, and by the time he tapped anchor Matt Dayton, the U.S. team was out of medal contention. Finland, led by strong-jumping Samppa Lajunen and Jaako Tallus,
began with a 44-second lead over Austria. The first three Finns
increased the lead to more than 50 seconds, giving Lajunen plenty
of cushion to bring home the victory.
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