Winter Sports Round-Up: Risto Jussilainen and Pirjo Manninen return to podium

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In the absence of Janne Ahonen, who has dominated this year's ski-jumping World Cup, but who was down with the flu, Risto Jussilainen stepped in and took third place in Sunday's World Cup event on the ski-flying hill in Kulm.
      Jussilainen's success was echoed by Matti Hautamäki, who finished fourth, only 0.6 points behind Jussilainen. The duo had finished sixth and seventh on the same hill on Saturday.
      Jussilainen, 29, returned to the podium after an absence of over three years. On Sunday he was bettered only by Poland's Adam Malysz and Austria's Andreas Widhölzl. Jussilainen trains outside of the official national team, so the 4,700 euros he earned also helped lift his spirits.
     
Pirjo Manninen, the sister of Nordic Combined star Hannu Manninen, felt that her second place finish in the women's cross-country sprint event in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic was like a victory.
      Manninen, the world champion in the sprint from 2001, finished second behind Norway's nearly unbeatable Marit Björgen in the 1.2 kilometre sprint. The Finn had not been on the podium for over two years after being plagued by injuries and illness.
      "I am not at all disappointed about finishing second. After everything I've been through, this feels nice", Manninen beamed. In earlier sprints this season, Manninen has had trouble clearing the semi-final stage.


Links:
  FIS World Cup results

Helsingin Sanomat