Sapporo: Germans finish 1-2 in men's 30 km pursuit

By Published On: February 24th, 2007Comments Off on Sapporo: Germans finish 1-2 in men's 30 km pursuit

SAPPORO, Japan — Germany's Axel Teichmann edged compatriot Tobias Angerer on Saturday to win the men's 30-kilometer pursuit race at the Nordic World Championships.


SAPPORO, Japan — Germany's Axel Teichmann edged compatriot Tobias Angerer on Saturday to win the men's 30-kilo pursuit race at the Nordic World Championships.
    Teichmann crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes, 35.8 seconds. Angerer, who leads the World Cup standings this year, was 0.5 seconds off the pace for the silver medal.
    Torino Olympic bronze medalist Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy was third with a time of 1:11:36.7. Torino silver medalist Frode Estil of Norway finished a disappointing 17th overall.
    American Kris Freeman skied with the lead pack throughout the race and survived a late crash to finish 19th in the race that combines a 15 km classic leg and a 15 km freestyle leg.
    Freeman skied with a pack of 20-25 skiers through all eight laps — four in the classic technique phase and four on the freestyle course — but a crash in the third skating leg cost him time and energy. When he caught the pack, the leaders took off and he eventually tired, finishing in 1:12.43.8. James Southam was 47th with Lars Flora 49th and Andrew Johnson 50th at the Shirahatayama course.
    "Kris is so strong. The result doesn't show how well he skied," U.S. head coach Pete Vordenberg said. "Obviously, you have to stay on your feet, but he skied so well and so strong. I'm really looking forward to that 15K skate" next Wednesday.
    The 2007 championships mark the first time the meet is being held as an independent event in Asia. In 1972, when the Olympic Winter Games were held in Sapporo, they doubled as the FIS World Ski Championships.
    Germany now has four medals in the Feb. 22-March 4 meet. Norway leads with five.
    Switzerland's Simon Ammann later won the ski jumping large hill event on Saturday. Ammann led after the first of two jumps but edged Finland's Harri Olli by just two tenths of a point for the gold. Olli jumped farther than Ammann over his two jumps but the Swiss used style points to eke out the win. Norway's Roar Ljoekelsoey was third.
    No U.S. jumpers made the final round. Clint Jones missed the top-30 cut by one place Friday in the qualifying event on the 134-meter hill and Alan Alborn was farther back.

Downhill spill, uphill battle to get back

    "It was a bummer, but I'm still happy. A little disappointed with how things played out," said Freeman, a two-time Olympian, "but I'm feeling good…
    "A Swede went down in front of me on a downhill on the skating course, and I went down, too. I worked really hard to get back on the pack after I fell — that whole third lap I worked really hard and finally caught back up, but then it was pretty much over. When I caught up, I caught my breath for an instant, and then they started the final hammer surge … and that was it," he said.
    Freeman, who turned in his best World Cup result in three years 10 days ago in China when he was 10th in a 15 km freestyle race, said he's "in the best fitness of my life." He had little problem staying with the lead pack throughout the mass start race.
    "That's the way the World Cup's been playing out now — more and more like bike racing" with a big lead pack rather than several skiers trying to make an early break. I felt awesome in the classic race — the guys really nailed the kick wax. I was so psyched about it," he said.
    The hilly Shirahatayama course is a challenge, perhaps more than is necessary, according to Freeman. "I liked the course a lot but the downhills were a little ridiculous. For a mass start you don't need to do stuff like that; the first time down the classic course, there were literally sharp pole fragments raining out of the sky from the crashes. You just don't need that," he said.

Coach marvels at stamina of lead pack
    Vordenberg said the corner where Freeman crashed "wasn't that tricky, but it was really fast and a lot of people were on edge. Kris really hammered for about two laps and caught up, but then lost a minute in the last two or three Ks. He really staged a helluva battle and I'm really proud of the way he came back."
    He was surprised by the endurance of the lead pack "but the level and depth of the field is pretty big these days. I thought, though, 'This is gonna separate out' – but it didn't happen. And there are a lot of hills on this course and I was wondering, 'What does it take to separate these guys?' I couldn't believe that many guys were that strong; I mean, these are huge climbs … and they all stayed together."
    If Freeman hadn't gone down, he said, "You never know, but safely somewhere maybe five to 10th place, certainly 10-15. When you're in that kind of group, anything's possible," Vordenberg said.
    The next men's cross country race is the 15 km on Wednesday. After opening with the sprints and team sprints in the Sapporo Dome — the first indoor races in Worlds history, all distance events are set for Shirahatayama.

    — The Associated Press and USSA contributed to this story



Nordic World Ski Championships results

Men's cross-country
30 kilometer pursuit

1. Axel Teichmann, Germany, 1 hour, 11 minutes, 35.8 seconds.
2. Tobias Angerer, Germany, 1:11:36.3.
3. Pietro Piller Cottrer, Italy, 1:11:36.7.
4. Jens Filbrich, Germany, 1:11:39.0.
5. Petter Northug, Norway, 1:11:44.0.
6. Alexander Legkov, Russia, 1:11:45.3.
7. Lukas Bauer, Czech Republic, 1:11:51.3.
8. Anders Sodergren, Sweden, 1:11:51.6.
9. Toni Livers, Switzerland, 1:11:51.7.
10. Vincent Vittoz, France, 1:11:52.4.

Ski jumping
Large hill (K120)

1. Simon Ammann, Switzerland, 266.1 points (125-134.5 meters).
2. Harri Olli, Finland, 265.9 (124-136.5).
3. Roar Ljoekelsoey, Norway, 262.9 (123-135).
4. Adam Malysz, Poland, 258.3 (123-133).
5. Thomas Morgenstern, Austria, 255.3 (122-131.5).
6. Janne Ahonen, Finland, 249.9 (123-130).
7. Dmitry Vassiliev, Russia, 235.2 (121-125.5).
8. Andreas Kofler, Austria, 231.9 (118-125).
9. Martin Koch, Austria, 225.3 (117.5-123.5).

 

 

Share This Article

About the Author: Pete Rugh