World champion Petter Northug of Norway wins his second gold of the Winter Olympics with a thrilling finish to the 50km cross-country.
Tag Archive for 'Northug'
Page 2 of 2
Whistler (AFP) – Norway’s Petter Northug won the men’s 50km cross-country skiing gold on Sunday, beating Germany’s Axel Teichmann in a two-up sprint to the line.
Teichmann ended with silver and Johan Olsson of Sweden took the bronze.
Northug’s second gold of the Games, after his victory in the team sprint event, came after a thrilling end to the two-hour nordic epic.
After most of the field had been left trailing by a lead group of 20 skiers Teichmann upped the pace in the final kilometre.
That took a further toll on the chasing bunch and when they sighted the stadium on the final descent, the German was soon in everyone’s sights.
Northug, the overall World Cup leader, pushed hard on his poles to pull level with Teichmann as they raced around the final bend.
And the Norwegian carried that momentum over the next 100 metres to the finish line where he beat Teichmann by just 0.3sec. Olsson was third at 1.0sec.
Northug now has four medals from the Vancouver Winter Games.
After a slow start to his campaign, the 24-year-old won bronze in the individual sprint and gold in the team sprint after leaving his rivals for dead on the final hill.
He then anchored the Norway team to a second place finish in the 4×10km relay on Wednesday.
jd/mp
--torino-2006_64imgFLead-Fa.jpg)
Oslo (AFP) – After a hugely disappointing performance at the Olympic Winter Games four years ago in Torino, Norway hopes to reel in the golds in Vancouver with a team made up of trusted veterans and up-and-coming stars.
At the 2006 Winter Games, Norway clinched 19 medals but just two golds, relegating it to 13th place in the overall medals table — one of its worst Winter Olympic showings.
“The goal is to be among the top three countries. That means 20 to 25 medals,” Norwegian delegation boss Jarle Aamboe said. “That’s setting the bar relatively high but it’s realistic.”
The Norwegian delegation, made up of 98 athletes, should be able to count on its biathletes for a host of medals, with Ole Einar Bjoerndalen — still a force to be reckoned with at the age of 36 — and rising star Emil Hegle Svendsen competing for the men and Tora Berger for the women.
Bjoerndalen, who has five Olympic golds, will attempt to dethrone Bjoern Daehlie as the most prolific Winter Olympic athlete in history. Daehlie has eight Olympic golds to his name.
But Svendsen, 12 years Bjoerndalen’s junior, could throw a spanner in the works.
Norway also hopes to top the podium in cross-country skiing thanks to Petter Northug, a strong finisher who at 24 seems set to follow in the tracks of his country’s greats.
But strikingly, Northug is seen as one of the very few potential gold medallists in the men’s cross-country despite the sport being a national pastime.
Ola Vigen Hattestad could have a shot at the sprint gold, while Marit Bjoergen is a possibility among the women.
Interestingly, Aamboe has only selected 19 cross-country skiers for Team Norway, including two who have a background as biathletes, out of a quota of 20 that he was allotted.
In the Nordic combined, all hopes are on Magnus Moan, provided he doesn’t do too poorly in the ski jumping, which is his weak side.
In alpine skiing, the pickings are slim apart from the multi-talented Aksel Lund Svindal, who has won three World Championships — in downhill, giant slalom and combined — and the overall World Cup in 2006 and 2009.
The Norwegians should also rake in a few medals in the speed skating events with star Haavard Boekko, as well as in freestyle skiing, snowboarding and possibly curling.
phy/po/dj10
RT @W_Olympics_2010: Cross-Country Skiing: Vancouver 2010 ones to watch – Petter Northug – AFP News : Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and …
Cross-Country Skiing: Vancouver 2010 ones to watch – Petter Northug – AFP News : Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and … http://bit.ly/6nWfUw