Bjoergen, Chappuis win again at worlds
Austria takes first gold
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy, March 3, (AP): Marit Bjoergen and Jason Lamy Chappuis continued to dominate the Nordic world championships, respectively winning their fourth and third gold medals on Saturday.
Bjoergen beat Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk in a sprint finish to win the 30-kilometer classical event and secure her 12th world title.
The cross-country great, who won three Olympic golds in Vancouver, sped past Kowalczyk with 200 meters to go to win by 3.7 seconds. Teammate Therese Johaug, who won the 10K freestyle on Tuesday, was third, 8.7 seconds behind.
Lamy Chappuis helped France to another team victory in the Nordic combined, becoming the first man to win three golds in the discipline in a single world championships.
He and Sebastien Lacroix beat the Austrian team of Wilhelm Denifl and committee, said the email came from an anonymous source and that it was immediately turned over to the police.
“We had to take it seriously, our job is to keep everyone safe here,” Fischer said. “Police took over the case and provided protection.” Bernhard Gruber by 16.6 seconds. Germany’s Eric Frenzel edged out Japan’s Akito Watabe by 0.6 seconds for bronze as a late fall by Tino Edelmann cost the German team dearly.
Austria won its fifth successive ski jump team title on the large hill to take its first gold medal of these worlds.
Norway tops the medal table with 19, including eight golds. France has four medals - all of which have been won with the help of Lamy Chappuis.
The Olympic champion came back from 11th to win the individual normal hill and also took gold in the team event, as well as bronze in the individual large hill.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he told The Associated Press. “I couldn’t have dreamt it! It’s been a really perfect two weeks. I’ve given everything. The best has to be the relay because there were four of us celebrating together and it was really
Maze said she had never felt safer in her life, “I’ve had police in front my door all the time since yesterday.”
Fenninger beat hometown favorite Maria Hoefl-Riesch by 0.20 of a second on the Kandahar course for her third career victory and second of the season. incredible to finish so close in front of (Magnus) Moan.”
Lamy Chappuis and Lacroix started fourth in the 2x7.5-kilometer sprint, 43 seconds behind Edelmann and Frenzel after the ski jump on the large hill.
Frenzel, who dominated to win the individual event on Thursday, again outdistanced his rivals with a jump of 127 meters, picking up 136.3 points as Germany scored a total of 264.3 and started the sprint 12 seconds ahead of the Japanese team of Watabe and Taihei Kato.
Germany was caught just before the halfway stage by France, Austria and Japan.
Japan dropped off two laps later, and Edelmann’s fall at the start of the penultimate lap left the race between France and Austria.
Earlier, Bjoergen won her first major title in a 30K-race in eight years.
The Austrian also saw off Julia Mancuso of the United States in third and Maze in fourth. Mancuso and Maze are still in competition for the season superG title, which will now be decided at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in two weeks. Sunday where she lines up with Child and Olympic silver medallist Christine Ohuruogu, said she was delighted with her run.
Meanwhile, Sara Moreira of Portugal secured victory in the women’s 3,000 meter race at the European Indoor Athletics Championships on Sunday, dominating much of the race.
Moreira took the lead after two laps and held it for four circuits of the track, dogged much of the way by Germany’s Corinna Harrer, then fell back as Belgium’s Almensch Belete moved to the front.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, reigning Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Suhr established a world record in women’s indoor pole vault by clearing 5.02 metres at the US Indoor Track and
Kenya’s Vincent Kipruto emerged victorious in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle against Tariku Jufar of Ethiopia in the last 200 metres to win the Lake Biwa marathon on Sunday.
Kipruto, running alone with Jufar after Japan-based Kenyan James Mwangi slowed down in the last two kilometres, spurted at the final corner to overtake Jufar before crossing the finishing line in two hours eight minutes 34 seconds.
Jufar was second in 2:08:37 and Mwangi, who will return to Kenya after the race, was third in 2:08:48. The best local runner was Masakazu Fujiwara in fourth place in 2:08:51. Field Championships.
Suhr eclipsed the previous women’s mark of 5.01 metres set by Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva in February of last year in Stockholm.