SEEFELD, Austria (Jan. 26) – Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) had the second-fastest 7.5K race Saturday to finish sixth in a nordic combined World Cup sprint. He protected his No. 2 spot in the World Cup overall standings. Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) was 19th.
The day had a mix of two competitions. After jumping for the sprint, with weather forecasts predicting nasty weather, athletes took one more jump to be used as part of an individual competition Sunday. Demong was seventh if weather prohibits another round of jumping Sunday.
In the sprint, Demong jumped to 13th place, putting him 74 seconds back to start the five-lap 7.5K. He tired at the end, winning a photo finish for sixth place with German Eric Frenzel. Demong was just 9.7 seconds back of Austrian Christoph Bieler, who won. Spillane had the eighth-fastest race and moved up 10 places, finishing 55.7 seconds back.
“Bill had a really good race, and so did Johnny,” Head Coach Lasse Ottesen said. “Bill spent two laps catching up to the leaders. He caught them in the third lap but then he began to tire and when it came to a sprint in the final section in the stadium, he just didn't have anything left.