Hettich takes gold

Georg Hettich held off a late burst from Austria's Felix Gottwald to take gold in the Nordic Combined individual Gundersen on Saturday. The German - who led after the ski jumping section - paced the race perfectly to finish 9.8 seconds ahead of Gottwald,

NORDIC COMBINED SKII 2005-2006 Torino Germany Gundersen HS106/15.0 Km Hettich

Image credit: dpa

Petter Tande was pipped on the line by compatriot Moan for the bronze medal, while Finland's Jaakko Tallus came fifth.

Gold medal favourite Hannu Manninen - 1:38 behind the leaders at the start of the cross-country race - got to within a minute of Hettich before suffering badly with the altitude to finish a lowly ninth.

"I can't believe it," said an elated Hettich after the race. "I didn't feel that good at the beginning and problems to keep the pace.

Torino

Hettich takes halfway lead

11/02/2006 at 13:08

NORDIC COMBINED SKII 2005-2006 Torino Germany Gundersen HS106/15.0 Km Hettich

Image credit: dpa

"But when nobody really worked on the last climb, I went myself - and couldn't believe that nobody was able to follow.

"I thought Felix would stay with me so that I had a 50/50 chance in the sprint."

HETTICH CONSISTENCY THE KEY

Hettich - who had never been on the podium at an Olympics of World Championship before - put himself in contention with victory in the ski jumping stage earlier in the day.

The 27-year-old posted a second-round jump of 104 metres to lead the competition at the halfway stage with a total of 262.5 points - enough for a two-second lead ahead of Tande in the 15-km cross-country race.

NORDIC COMBINED SKII 2005-2006 Torino Germany Gundersen HS106/15.0 Km Hettich Tallus Tande

Image credit: dpa

With the two vying for the lead in the early stages of the cross-country, Manninen and Moan - eighth and ninth respectively after the ski jumping - steadily cut the gap on the leaders.

They were joined by Gottwald, who started the race in 11th, while Tallus cut his 20-second gap on Hettich and Tande at the front.

But when Moan and Gottwald produced a sparkling burst at the 10-km stage, Manninen was unable to keep up with the leading pack, ending his chances of taking his first ever Olympic gold.

With Gottwald continuing to push forward, Hettich looked as though he was about to get overtaken by the surging Austrian.

NORDIC COMBINED SKII 2005-2006 Torino Germany Gundersen HS106/15.0 Km Hettich Gottwald

Image credit: dpa

But the German paced it perfectly, kicking again to leave Gottwald in his wake as he went on to take a shock gold medal.

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Tallus goes the distance

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