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JIM ARMSTRONG
Associated Press
SAPPORO, Japan - Hannu Manninen won his second gold medal of the Nordic World Ski Championships, anchoring Finland to the gold medal in the Nordic combined team 20-kilometer event on Sunday.
Manninen, who won his first individual gold medal on Friday in the 7.5-kilometer sprint, surged ahead of Germany's Bjorn Kircheisen on the final leg of the cross-country race to ensure another gold for Finland.
Finland finished with a time of 49 minutes, 14.9 seconds - 28.4 seconds ahead of Germany. Norway took the bronze a further 1:12.0 back.
Germany's No. 3 skier Tino Edelmann gave his team a brief lead heading into the final leg but Manninen was too strong for Kirscheisen, who finished third in the sprint event.
Finland started the cross-country race with a 0.39-second lead after Manninen and his teammates combined to lead the ski jumping portion.
After failing to win a single individual gold medal in the Olympics or world championships, Manninen, who has dominated the World Cup over the past three years, is making an impressive showing in the 2007 meet.
In the women's 15-kilometer cross-country pursuit event, Russia's Olga Savialova won the won the gold.
Savialova crossed the finish line with a time of 41:27.5 seconds to capture Russia's first gold medal of the meet.
Katerina Neumannova, who won the silver medal at the Turin Olympics, was 0.5 seconds back while Norway's Kristin Stoermer Steira was third for the bronze.
Savialova was fourth after the 7.5-kilometer classical portion of the event but surged into the lead in the freestyle segment