Seefeld NC: Gottwald wins; Demong sixth

SEEFELD, Austria — Felix Gottwald of Austria won his 20th career World Cup title Saturday at a Nordic combined sprint.

SEEFELD, Austria — Felix Gottwald of Austria won his 20th career World Cup title Saturday at a Nordic combined sprint.
    The 31-year-old Olympic champion, ranked fifth after the jumping discipline, won in 21 minutes, 3.2 seconds.
    France's Jason Lamy Chappuis finished second, trailing Gottwald by 22.6 seconds.
    Magnus Moan of Norway was third, 34.2 behind.
    ''I controlled the race well,'' Gottwald said. ''It was important that I had a good jump this morning, which put me in the driving seat for the sprint. Anyway, after six victories here by Hannu (Manninen) it is great that finally an Austrian wins in Seefeld.''
    Mario Stecher of Austria won the first leg of the event by jumping 86.0 meters, but dropped to fifth place after finishing 28th in the 7.5-kilometer cross-country sprint.
    Moan was only 25th after the ski jumping, but winning the sprint discipline earned him the third spot.
    Bill Demong of the United States finished sixth overall. He was 26th after the ski jumping and fifth in the sprint race, 55.5 seconds behind Gottwald.
    Austria's Christoph Bieler, finishing eighth and hstayed ahead in the World Cup Standing with 528 points. Finland's Manninen trails him by 23, Moan is third with 488.

World Cup nordic combined
SEEFELD, Austria — Results Saturday from a World Cup nordic combined event (ski jumping and 7.5-kilometer cross-country ski race placings in parenthesis)

1. Felix Gottwald, Austria, 21 minutes, 3.2 seconds (5-2).
2. Jason Lamy, France, 22.6 seconds behind (2-11).
3. Magnus Moan, Norway, 34.2 (25-1).
4. Hannu Manninen, Finland, 41.0 (18-3).
5. Mario Stecher, Austria, 49.1 (1-28).
6. Bill Demong, United States, 55.6 (26-5).
7. David Kreiner, Austria, 55.7 (4-19).
8. Christoph Bieler, Austria, 1:06.6 (3-25).
9. Anssi Koivuranta, Finland, 1:06.9 (12-14).
10. Petter Tande, Norway, 1:08.8 (16-12).
11. Ronny Ackermann, Germany, 1:09.9 (22-9).
12. Tomaz Druml, Austria, 1:11.5 (10-18).
13. Nicolas Bal, France, 1:11.8 (32-4).
14. Sebastian Haseney, Germany, 1:13.1 (29-6).
15. Bjorn Kircheisen, Germany, 1:15.0 (13-17).
16. Thorsten Schmitt, Germany, 1:16.1 (8-24).
17. Francois Braud, France, 1:20.3 (18-15).
18. Seppi Hurschler, Switzerland, 1:22.8 (13-20).
19. Bernhard Gruber, Austria, 1:24.9 (6-30).
20. Tino Edelmann, Germany, 1:29.1 (16-23).

World Cup standings
(after 10 of 19 events)
1. Christoph Bieler, Austria, 528 points.
2. Hannu Manninen, Finland, 505.
3. Magnus Moan, Norway, 488.
4. Jason Lamy Chappuis, France, 448.
5. Felix Gottwald, Austria, 409.
6. Anssi Koivuranta, Finland, 352.
7. Sebastian Haseney, Germany, 343.
8. Ronny Ackermann, Germany, 285.
9. Petter L. Tande, Norway, 269.
10. Maxime Laheurte, France, 221.
11. Bill Demong, U.S., 219