December 30, 2006 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) was fourth – his best performance in nearly five years – in a photo finish Saturday at a Nordic combined World Cup 15K, less than three seconds back in a wild five-man sprint won by defending World Cup champion Hannu Manninen of Finland.
Manninen, 24th in the jumping, earned his first victory of the season – and the 44th of his career – by 1.7 seconds over Sebastien Haseney of Germany in the opening competition of the three-event German Grand Prix, an annual series within the World Cup series.
German star Ronny Ackermann lunged past Demong at the finish line and, after a brief review of video tapes, was awarded third place; he and Demong were 2.7 seconds back with Austria’s Felix Gottwald in fifth, another full second out. Brett Camerota (Park City, UT) was 33rd.
“It was a good day. This [Ruhpolding’s 128-meter jump] has been a good hill for me the last couple of years,” Demong said. “I had decent training jumps; we got here Thursday about noon, took a light ski and jumped yesterday, and I kinda put it together today…although it was a really tough finish.
“It was Hannu and Ackermann and Felix and Haseney, and the cross country rank [for the 15K] was just about the same as the order of finish, which you don’t often see. I was focused on going out, opening slowly…” Gottwald had the fastest 15K and Demong’s time was fifth-fastest.
When Ackermann, who started 27 seconds behind Demong, caught him, the three-time U.S. Olympian took off with him; eventually, Manninen and Haseney joined them. As they got into the final stages, he said, “It was a good pace, those last three laps with Hannu driving it. I got caught up with the guys behind me on a couple of uphills. I figured I had a good chance for third – Hannu opened it a little with Haseney on the last roller, but it was tight and icy, so I couldn’t step on it.
“I slid by Felix and was maybe a little ahead of Ronny, but somehow he literally threw himself to get his feet ahead of me, but I thought I still got him,” Demong said. “We waited about 10 minutes for them to decide the photo finish. I saw the video and I’m a little bit ahead of him, sticking my foot out [to cross the finish first] and he went right on his butt as he threw himself at the line … and they finally said Ronny was third.”
“To miss the podium by a photo finish is never fun,” said Head Coach Lasse Ottesen, “so Billy’s psyched but he’s also bummed because he had Ackermann at the end. I told hiim he couuld spend half an hour being angry but then let it go and realize what a great race he had, and what a tremendous effort he put out there.
“I mean, this is Billy’s best result in nearly five years, since he won in Liberec [Czech Republic – January 2002, just before the Salt Lake City Olympics]. Don’t lose sight of that,” the coach said. “It’s great for him and it’s great for the team…and there’s more to come.”
Jumping to 10th was a key to the performance, Ottesen said. Demong had strong races earlier in the season, but his jumping was erratic. Saturday, jumping put him in a position to challenge for the podium.
“He’s been taking steps forward on the jump hill in training, doing some great stuff but not as stable yet as he could be to bring it into the comp…but it’s coming. And this is definitely what the team needs going into the new year because we know we’re doing the right thing. We need to trust what we’ve been doing,” Ottesen said.
The competition originally was set to open the Grand Prix in the former East German nordic center of Oberhof, but the snow drought in Europe forced organizers to move the event. Ruhpolding, which was set to hold a two-man team sprint Wednesday said it would pickup the event.
The Americans have been scrambling to get on-snow jump training and after additional training at home during the Christmas break, Ottesen said they’re making progress. Sunday will be an “open” jumping day in Ruhpolding, rather than the traditional three rounds of official training, “so we could get maybe 10 or 12 or 15 rounds of jumping, which is exactly what we need.”
New rules this season cut the field of competitors to 35 after the first round of jumping and Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) was 40th, so he was eliminated. Ottesen said staying in Ruhpolding should help him since he’ll be jumping at the same venue for several days instead of traveling.
The two-man competition at midweek doesn’t count in the World Cup standings. From there, the Grand Prix concludes Jan. 6 in Oberstdorf, having been moved from the traditional finale site in Schonach, also because of a lack of snow.
Warsteiner Nordic Combined World Cup
German Grand Prix
Ruhpolding, GER – Dec. 30, 2006 (Moved from Oberhof)
K128/15K
1. Hannu Manninen, Finland, (24/2)
2. Sebastien Haseney, Germany, (16.3) 1.7 seconds back
3. Ronny Ackermann, Germany, (15/4) 2.7 (photo finish)
4. Bill Demong, Vermontville, NY, (10/5) 2.7
5. Felix Gottwald, Austria, (27/1) 3.7
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33. Brett Camerota, Park City, UT, (32/lapped in 15K)
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Eliminated after 1st round of jumping:
Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, CO
For complete results click here.