Manninen victory show continues at Harrachov

Finn caps his fifth consecutive Nordic Combined FIS World Cup event

Hannu Manninen

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At present, Hannu Manninen is in a league of his own in the Nordic Combined FIS World Cup. On Sunday Manninen capped his fifth consecutive World Cup event - the 9th of 13 possible wins this season - at Harrachov in the Czech Republic.
      The 27-year-old from Rovaniemi, Finland, has now won 40 World Cup events in his career.
      On Saturday Manninen won the 7.5 km sprint event in exhibition style, and Sunday's 15 km Gundersen event was more or less a replay from Saturday.
      In the ski-jumping Manninen produced 88.5 and 89.5-metre leaps and started the skiing section of the competition almost a minute and a half behind the leader, Daito Takahashi of Japan.
      For some, this would have been enough to ensure a finish outside the leading bunch, but Manninen is one of the two or three fastest skiers on the Nordic Combined circuit. During the 15-kilometre skiing, Manninen caught those who started before him one by one, and at eight kilometres he was already heading the field. By the finish line Manninen had opened up a comfortable gap between himself and Germany's Björn Kircheisen, who came in second.
      Manninen, who leads the World Cup with an imposing 1,064 points, will have his first shot at wrapping up a third consecutive World Cup title next weekend at Seefeld. The current World Cup runner-up Ronny Ackermann of Germany has managed to scrape together 501 points, less than half of Manninen's score.
      Both Ackermann and Magnus Moan of Norway, who currently holds the World Cup number three position, skipped the events in Harrachov.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Winter Sports Round-up: Ahonen furious, Manninen keeps winning; women's relay team wins in cross-country skiing, and Palander continues good form (16.1.2006)

Links:
  FIS – Nordic Combined

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