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Alsgaard edges Daehlie to win 15-km pursuit gold
 Thomas Alsgaard of Norway (left) |
9:00- Start
Thomas Alsgaard of Norway won the Nagano Olympic men's 15-kilometer cross country pursuit race Saturday, edging out countryman Bjorn Daehlie in an exciting final-stretch duel.
Alsgaard, who won the gold in the Lillehammer Olympic 30-km classical event, covered the freestyle portion in 39 minutes, 13.7 seconds at the hilly Snow Harp course in Hakuba in frequent rain.
The 26-year-old had a two-race combined time of 1:07:01.7, crossing the finish line 1.1 seconds ahead of Daehlie, who was denied an all-time Winter Games record seventh gold medal.
The bronze went to Kazakstan's Vladimir Smirnov in 1:07:31.5.
Alsgaard, starting in fifth place 24 seconds adrift of Daehlie based on the results of Thursday's 10-km classical, caught up with the leader before the 8-km point and overhauled him in the final 200 meters after a breathtaking two-man race.
Daehlie's silver medal earned him a total of 10 Olympic medals for a tie with Russian cross country skier Raisa Smetanina who competed for the Soviet Union and the former Unified Team between 1976 and 1992.
Saturday's freestyle race was the second leg of the two-day pursuit event combined with the 10-km classical race. (Kyodo News)
Results of cross country skiing men's combined 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit Saturday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Snow Harp, Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture:
1. Thomas Alsgaard, Norway 1 hour, 7 minutes, 1.7 seconds
2. Bjorn Daehlie, Norway 1:07:02.8
3. Vladimir Smirnov, Kazakstan 1:07:31.5
4. Silvio Fauner, Italy 1:07:48.9
5. Fulvio Valbusa, Italy 1:07:49.1
6. Mika Myllylae, Finland 1:07:50.6
7. Markus Gandler, Austria 1:08:14.2
8. Jari Isometsae, Finland 1:08:19.4
9. Sergej Tchepikov, Russia 1:08:24.3
10. Niklas Jonsson, Sweden 1:08:25.7
-----
21. Katsuhito Ebisawa, Japan 1:10:10.0
22. Mitsuo Horigome, Japan 1:10:11.1
24. Masaaki Kouzu, Japan 1:10:23.9
28. Hiroyuki Imai, Japan 1:10:55.0
36. Pavel Ryabinin, Kazakstan 1:12:05.7
48. Andrej Nevzorov, Kazakstan 1:12:54.7
59. Vitalii Lilichenko, Kazakstan 1:16:22.1
66. Ahn Jin Soo, South Korea 1:18:51.4
67. Park Byung Joo, South Korea 1:19:19.8
68. Wu Jintao, China 1:19:52.1
Park Byung Chul, South Korea Did not finish
 Oh, rain again |
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun