Manninen and Koivuranta take podium places in Lillehammer

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Hannu Manninen is still without a Nordic Combined World Cup win after three events this season, but he did get onto the podium for a second time on Saturday at Lillehammer in Norway, finishing third in a tight sprint finish behind Magnus Moan of Norway and Germany's Sebastian Haseney.
      Manninen, the winner of the World Cup in each of the past three seasons, jumped himself into 18th spot on the 138-metre hill, and was the fastest skier on the track, but Moan and Haseney are also both excellent skiers and in the end the Finn fell short of victory by 0.5 seconds.
     
On Sunday, Manninen was eclipsed by his colleague Anssi Koivuranta, who coped well with awkward weather conditions that forced the planned normal individual competition to be compressed into a sprint event.
      Koivuranta was second, 1.2 seconds behind Christoph Bieler of Austria. It was the 18-year-old's third time in 2nd place, and he is still looking for his first World Cup win. Manninen could do no better than 9th.
      After three rounds of the World Cup, Hannu Manninen is currently in 5th place overall and Koivuranta is 6th. Of the other members of the Finnish contingent, only Jaakko Tallus could get a top ten place at the weekend. Tallus was 10th on Saturday and is down in 17th spot overall.
     
Weather permitting, the Nordic Combined specialists will be in action again in Steamboat Springs, Colorado next weekend.
      Before that, however, the Finnish representatives from the Torino Olympics - where they took a team bronze medal - will be dressing in rather different gear for the annual Independence Day Reception on Wednesday, to which the relay quartet have been invited.


Links:
  FIS pages: Nordic Combined

Helsingin Sanomat