Nordic Combined: Moan wins in Lahti, Demong third

By Published On: March 7th, 2009Comments Off on Nordic Combined: Moan wins in Lahti, Demong third

Magnus Moan of Norway won a World Cup nordic combined event today on the second day of competition in Lahti, Finland. He overcame finishing 20th in the jumping portion of the event to win the cross country section and the overall victory ahead of World Cup leader, Finland’s Anssi Koivurant in second and yesterday’s winner, American World Champion Bill Demong in third. Koivurant double his previous day’s result with another sliver.

The win was Moan’s seventh World Cup win of the season. Koivurant notched his 14th trip to a World Cup podium this year, while Demong celebrated his eighth.  

Koivurant now leads Moan in the overall standings by 59 points. Demong is 349 back in third.

Two competitions remain on this year’s World Cup schedule, both at the finals in Vikersund, Norway, March 14-15. 

Magnus Moan of Norway won a World Cup nordic combined event today on the second day of competition in Lahti, Finland. He overcame finishing 20th in the jumping portion of the event to win the cross country section and the overall victory ahead of World Cup leader, Finland’s Anssi Koivurant in second and yesterday’s winner, American World Champion Bill Demong in third. Koivurant double his previous day’s result with another sliver.

The exciting finish took place in front of ten thousand spectators as Moan came from behind to overtake Koivurant in a photo finish.

“This was the most important sprint of my entire career. I showed a good jump but had to start almost two minutes behind Anssi. Therefore, it was a hard and tough race,” said Moan. “I did not think to win the competition; I just wanted to earn as much points as possible. Today, the race showed that you never should lose hope; and that you should believe that everything is possible.”

The win was Moan’s seventh World Cup win of the season. Koivurant notched his 14th trip to a World Cup podium this year, while Demong celebrated his eighth.  

After coming out of the jump in fourth place, Demong struggled early in the cross country race. “I had another really good day on the jump hill. I felt pretty good physically and I thought it was going to be a little bit easier, but I made the mistake of going out a little too hard and struggled in the second half of the race,” Demong said. “I just went dead trying to stay the last lap and a half. It wasn’t as good a tactical race as it was yesterday, but I’m still happy with third place.”

Koivurant now leads Moan in the overall standings by 59 points. Demong is 349 back in third.

“It was a great feeling competing in front of a home crowd, and they gave me the strength to attack Bill Demong in the last of the four laps,” said Koivurant. “Now, I have 59 points advantage, and I guess that the races in Vikersund will become very interesting. I know that I have to be really strong over there to win the overall World Cup because Magnus is like a bull on the track.”

Two competitions remain on this year’s World Cup schedule, both at the finals in Vikersund, Norway, March 14-15. 

“I have a good feeling and I’m hoping to keep it rolling. I’ve been a little bit tired on the cross country course, but I’m hoping to turn that around a little next weekend by resting more,” Demong said. “I’m psyched. I’m definitely in a good fight now for third overall and it looks good right now. I’m just hoping to keep the hammer down through the end.”


Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Result
 1  20  973 MOAN Magnus-H.  1983  NOR   26:34.5
 2  1  1156 KOIVURANTA Anssi  1988  FIN   26:34.5
 3  4  222 DEMONG Bill  1980  USA   26:37.0
 4  5  1050 FRENZEL Eric  1988  GER   26:46.9
 5  12  680 TANDE Petter L.  1985  NOR   26:52.8
 6  7  610 LAMY CHAPPUIS Jason  1986  FRA   26:53.3
 7  2  215 CHURAVY Pavel  1977  CZE   26:54.1
 8  13  1029 PITTIN Alessandro  1990  ITA   27:04.7
 9  6  111 BIELER Christoph  1977  AUT   27:12.7
 10  8  216 TAKAHASHI Daito  1980  JPN   27:16.8
 11  21  205 KOBAYASHI Norihito  1982  JPN   27:46.8
 12  29  1650 SCHMID Jan  1983  NOR   27:53.5
 13  19  416 SLAVIK Tomas  1981  CZE   27:54.4
 14  15  419 KLEMETSEN Haavard  1979  NOR   28:05.0
 15  30  257 KIRCHEISEN Bjoern  1983  GER   28:07.4
 16  10  609 LAHEURTE Maxime  1985  FRA   28:18.6
 17  43  1149 KOKSLIEN Mikko  1985  NOR   28:25.4
 18  39  200 HASENEY Sebastian  1978  GER   28:27.3
 19  37  203 HEER Ronny  1981  SUI   28:28.3
 20  11  294 GUENTER Andreas  1988  GER   28:29.0
 21  22  252 GRUBER Bernhard  1982  AUT   28:29.2
 22  14  198 TALLUS Jaakko  1981  FIN   28:37.0
 23  9  694 VODSEDALEK Ales  1985  CZE   28:43.9
 24  33  1015 PICHLMAYER Marco  1987  AUT   28:49.6
 25  28  606 BRAUD Francois  1986  FRA   28:51.3
 26  26  727 KATO Taihei  1984  JPN   28:53.4
 27  3  1473 ASIKAINEN Lauri  1989  FIN   29:04.2
 28  16  623 HUG Tim  1987  SUI   29:13.7
 29  24  1164 FELISAZ Jonathan  1985  FRA   29:17.6
 30  38  8 STECHER Mario  1977  AUT   29:17.9
 31  34  1660 WENDEL Ole-Christian  1992  NOR   29:34.4
 32  25  1410 BAUER Armin  1990  ITA   29:35.1
 33  40  590 RYDZEK Johannes  1991  GER   29:38.9
 34  31  217 HETTICH Georg  1978  GER   29:50.1
 35  42  1067 FLETCHER Bryan  1986  USA   29:52.5
 36  46  1003 DVORAK Miroslav  1987  CZE   29:58.3
 37  44  683 RIAN Espen  1981  NOR   29:59.6
 38  32  592 KLAPFER Lukas  1985  AUT   30:12.4
 39  18  604 ZAUNER David  1985  AUT   30:15.1
 40  36  247 SPILLANE Johnny  1980  USA   30:47.8
 41  51  643 MICHIELLI Giuseppe  1985  ITA   31:27.1
 42  35  1474 TUPPURAINEN Ville  1988  FIN   31:38.7
 43  27  1228 LEETOJA Aldo  1988  EST   32:13.9
 44  52  1486 PIHO Kail  1991  EST   32:19.8
 45  41  981 CAMEROTA Eric  1985  USA   32:47.0
 46  17  1553 KUHLBERG Mikael  1990  FIN   32:56.1
 47  48  705 KAEHKOENEN Ville  1984  FIN   33:24.7
 48  50  1548 HAERTULL Jim  1990  FIN   35:11.1
Disqualified
   10  164 SAVILL Wesley  1989  CAN   
Did not start
   53  349 HURSCHLER Seppi  1983  SUI   
   49  351 EDELMANN Tino  1985  GER   
   49  1152 RYYNAENEN Janne  1988  FIN   
   47  1136 WATABE Akito  1988  JPN   
   45  653 ENGLERT Toni  1988  GER   
   40  459 LACROIX Sebastien  1983  FRA   
   28  768 MINATO Yusuke  1985  JPN   
   24  715 ORANIC Mitja  1986  SLO   
   9  637 BRESADOLA Davide  1988  ITA   
Did not finish
   23  214 DENIFL Wilhelm  1980  AUT   

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About the Author: Pete Rugh