Following up on his world-beating qualifying time, Russia's Vassili Rotchev finally found his way to the top step of the podium when he won the men's A-final at the Oberstdorf World Championships earlier today. Rotchev put forth an amazing effort to hold off the incredibly strong Tor Arne Hetland of Norway, who won the silver medal at 0.2 seconds behind Rotchev.
Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset Racing In The Pursuit In Oberstdorf. Photo by Stian Hogland
It was a tough quarterfinal for Andrew Newell of the US team, who qualified in 16th and had to go up against Rotchev, Hjelmeset, and Lauri Pyykoenen of Finland. Newell was able to get the better of Pyykoenen in a photo-finish and ended the day with an excellent 12th place overall.
Quarterfinal 1:
1 1 Rotchev Vassili RUS *12:46 2:33.9 0.0 Q
2 9 Hjelmeset Odd-Bjoern NOR *12:46 2:35.0 +1.1 Q
3 16 Newell Andrew USA *12:46 2:36.1 +2.2 FD
4 8 Pyykoenen Lauri FIN *12:46 2:36.2 +2.3 FD
