3rd place overshadows 1st and 2nd

Nordic Combined

Tue, Dec  30, 2008 - By FIS

The fifth stage of the DKB FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Oberhof (GER) brought great sport and close decisions. On Saturday, December 27th, Magnus Moan (NOR) won a nail-biting sprint finish just 0.3 seconds in front of Todd Lodwick (USA) and 0.4 seconds in front of Anssi Koivuranta (FIN). One day later, Koivuranta achieved his third season World Cup victory, which was at the same moment his third career victory. Lodwick placed second, Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis third.

Koivuranta remains solidly on top of the overall World Cup ranking. Moan trails by 147 points.

In the middle of attention, however, was the man who did not win any race in Oberhof. Todd Lodwick started his comeback only at the beginning of May with the hardest training in his life, as the athlete said in the press conference. He won three out of four Continental Cups before joining the World Cup. In Germany, he hold Moan's speed in the first race losing by a blink of the eye, and he was able to conduct together with Koivuranta a tactical perfect cross-country race losing it just on the last kilometer. And on the hill, he showed impressive performances.

"These results are not so bad for an old man", Lodwick joked later on. "I guess that I'm at 80 % of my possibilities." The World Championships and the Olympic Games are his goals. Not only his youngest achievements make him really dangerous, but also his state of mind: "Before, Nordic Combined was my job. Now, it's for fun. I feel so fortunate being a Nordic Combined athlete again!"