: Dominant Finn Hannu Manninen, pictured,
has finally landed his first world title with
a thrilling...
Dominant Finn Hannu Manninen
finally landed his first world title with a thrilling
photo-finish victory over Norway's Magnus Moan in
the Nordic combined sprint here on Friday.
Manninen has long been a leading force in nordic
combined events and with 50 World Cup victories
is out on his own in terms of success, but he had
always missed out on the top prize.
"It's incredible because this title has been
my goal and my dream for many years," said
the Finn.
The 28-year-old finished down in ninth place after
the ski-jump section but recovered well to pip Moan
with an outstretched leg at the finish.
More impressive, though, is the 49 seconds he made
up over the 7.5km course on third placed German
Bjorn Kircheisen, who won the jumping section.
Manninen admitted that his ski jump result initially
left him thinking the victory would be impossible.
"I had 49 seconds to make up on Kircheisen;
I knew it would be difficult to catch him so my
aim was to take second place."
In an incredible race, the top five finishers were
separated by less than a second.
Manninen's beaten foes paid tribute to the Finn.
"I wanted to win but I'm happy that Hannu
won; he's a great guy and someone who deserves to
be world champion," said Moan.
"When Hannu is in this kind of form, no-one
can beat him," added Kircheisen.
In the team sprint events, Italians Renato Pasini
and Cristian Zorzi scored a surprised victory in
the men's competition ahead of Russia and the Czech
Republic.
Finland's duo of Virpui Kuitunen and Riitta Liisa
Roponen carried off the women's gold medal ahead
of Germany and Norway.
