High winds blow away Demong's shot at NC title

High winds forced yet another cancellation on the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Saturday as the sprint event in Lahti, Finland, was blown out. The loss of the event clinched the World Cup title for German Ronny Ackermann, who holds a 237-point lead over the U.S. Ski Team's Bill Demong with two events remaining.
    It was the fourth event in three weekends dropped from the calendar, which impacted Demong's bid to catch Ackermann. Demong remains in second heading into the Holmenkollen finale next weekend.     
    Demong still is bidding for the best finish ever by a U.S. nordic combined skier.

LAHTI, Finland — High winds forced yet another cancellation on the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Saturday as the sprint event in Lahti was blown out. The loss of the event clinched the World Cup title for German Ronny Ackermann, who holds a 237-point lead over the U.S. Ski Team's Bill Demong with two events remaining.
    It was the fourth event in three weekends dropped from the calendar, which impacted Demong's bid to catch Ackermann. Demong remains in second with a slim 30-point margin over Norwegian Petter Tande, who gained ground with his win in Lahti on Friday.
    Demong is bidding for the best finish ever by a U.S. nordic combined skier. The best previous was by Todd Lodwick, who was fourth in 2005, 2000 and 1998 in the overall nordic combined standings. Lodwick was third in the sprint standings in 2005.
    Next weekend's events will pit Demong against Tande at Holmenkollen, the sport's Super Bowl. The schedule includes a traditional Gundersen competition – two jumps on the HS128m hill at Holmenkollen followed by a 15 km cross-country race on Saturday, plus a sprint (one jump and 7.5 km) to wrap up the World Cup on Sunday.
    "This will be a good challenge for Bill to take on Petter on his home course," said U.S. Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner.