STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Saturday's World Cup Nordic combined event here included almost all the elements needed for dramatic sport: a hometown hero, plenty of loco/local fans, photo finishes and even a bit of controversy.
German Sebastian Haseney passed five rivals in the 7.5-kilometer cross country race to claim his first career World Cup victory during the concluding event at the Ski Town USA Classic. He was followed by countryman Marco Baacke and Felix Gottwald of Austria.
Steamboat native Todd Lodwick, who won Thursday's Nordic combined event, placed fourth Saturday. Lodwick was leading the pack going into the final lap, cheered on by hundreds of his friends and Steamboat neighbors. He was caught by a trio of skiers about midway through the last lap.
Fatigue from Thursday's grueling 15-kilometer cross country race may have caught up to Lodwick.
Still, it was an impressive few days for America's top Nordic combiner. Lodwick jumped from 11th to sixth in the overall World Cup standings following his Steamboat success.
Haseney started 12 seconds behind the leader in Saturday's cross country race following a single round of jumping on the 114-meter hill at historic Howelsen Hill. His finished the race in 17 minutes and six seconds.
He and German teammate Marco Baacke competed in Utah last week, giving them time to acclimate to Steamboat's high altitude.
Gottwald, who performed well in last weekend's World Cup events, held onto his spot atop the overall World Cup standings. The young Austrian had one of the day's longest jumps, but poor style marks following an unsteady landing forced him to the middle of the cross country pack. The Austrians protested the judges' jumping marks to no avail.
U.S. Nordic combined jumping coach Jan-Erik Aalbu defended the judges, saying they did their job docking Gottwald's ride Americans Bill Demong, John Spillane and Matt Dayton all enjoyed top-20 finishes, concluding a successful weekend for the Yank team.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com