Norway's Vik wins Nagano Olympic Nordic combined

February 14, 1998

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Norway's Vik wins Nagano Olympic Nordic combined

Kenji Ogiwara

(Snow Harp, Hakuba Village)
13:00- Start

Norway's Bjarte Engen Vik, taking advantage of the comfortable lead he built in Friday's ski jumping competition, cruised to the gold medal in the Nagano Olympic Nordic combined event Saturday.

Vik, currently on top of the World Cup rankings, went into the 15-kilometer cross country race with a 36-second advantage and never relinquished the lead on the rain-soaked Snow Harp cross country course in Hakuba.

The 26-year-old bronze medal winner in Lillehammer four years ago crossed the finish line in 41 minutes, 21.1 seconds and punched the air with joy in his victory.

Finland's Samppa Lajunen overtook four competitors in the final 60 meters to win the silver, finishing 27.5 seconds behind Vik.

Russia Valerij Stoljarov lost a home stretch sprint duel to Lajunen and had to settle for the bronze 0.7 second behind.

Two-time world champion Kenji Ogiwara moved up from ninth to finish a distant fourth. Tsugiharu Ogiwara, Kenji's twin brother, dropped from third to sixth.

Vik was never challenged during the race, posting the 16th time of the day, and easily completed his one-man journey over the hilly Snow Harp.

On Friday, Vik combined a jump of 89.5 meters with the longest leap of the day, 94.5 meters, to put himself in position to claim his first gold medal in a major international event. (Kyodo News)

Final results of the Nordic combined individual event after the 15-kilometer cross country race Saturday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture:

1. Bjarte Vik, Norway 41 minutes, 21.1 seconds (1st after jumping competition)

2. Samppa Lajunen, Finland 27.5 seconds behind (6th)

3. Valerij Stoljarov, Russia 28.2 behind (2nd)

4. Kenji Ogiwara, Japan 1:21.1 behind (9th)

5. Milan Kucera, Czech Rep. 1:24.7 behind (8th)

6. Tsugiharu Ogiwara, Japan 1:25.3 behind (3rd)

7. Nicolas Bal, France 1:25.7 behind (11th)

8. Mario Stecher, Austria 1:48.8 behind (7th)

9. Sylvain Guillaume, France 2:21.4 behind (16th)

10. Dmitrij Sinitzyn, Russia 2:26.9 behind (14th)

----

23. Junichi Kogawa, Japan 4:15.7 behind (4th)

38. Satoshi Mori, Japan 7:07.9 behind (34th)

Norway's Bjarte Engen Vik

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