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Associated Press 15y

Demong takes 1st world title; Kowalczyk gets 2nd

LIBEREC, Czech Republic -- Bill Demong went from blunderer to world champion and Justyna Kowalczyk earned her second gold medal at the Nordic skiing world championships Saturday.

Demong bounced back from losing his bib in the team competition to earn his first world title by taking the Nordic combined large hill event, while Kowalczyk pulled away from seven rivals one kilometer from the end to take the women's 30-kilometer cross-country race.

In the ski jumping team event, Austria lived up to expectations by taking gold ahead of Norway and Japan.

Demong erased a 52-second deficit to Jason Lamy Chappuis of France and then pulled away from Bjoern Kircheisen of Germany near the end to finish in 23 minutes, 36.6 seconds at the world championships. Kircheisen was 12.8 seconds back for silver, while Lamy Chappuis finished 31.4 back in third.

Demong's win comes two days after the American was disqualified for losing his bib ahead of his ski jump in the team competition, ruining the United States' chance of a medal. He took bronze in the normal hill event last Sunday, and added a fourth gold to the Americans' already record-breaking haul in Liberec.

"It was a great way to end the world championship," said Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y. "I knew it would have to be a really, really good race for me to have a chance."

Demong had a comfortable lead on the home straight, raising both arms and letting out a yell as he crossed the finish line.

"I saw on the big TV screen about 5 meters from the finish (that I was alone)," Demong said. "That's when it set in. Until I crossed that finish line, I didn't give any thought to the medal."

It was a remarkable comeback for Demong, who had to be consoled by coaches and teammates after Thursday's mishap, when his bib had slipped down through his ski jumping suit and into his boot. He found it a few minutes after his allotted starting time, but was not allowed an exception to jump later.

"I have to give credit to my teammates," he said. "They did a really good job of keeping my spirits up and telling me to forget about it."

Kowalczyk decided the freestyle race by pulling away from seven rivals in a tough uphill climb about one kilometer from the finish. The push quickly gave her a 40-meter lead and the Pole could ski down the home stretch alone to finish in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 10.6 seconds.

"My tactic was to save energy for the last uphill, and then go," Kowalczyk said. "And I think it was a good tactic."

Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva won a five-way sprint for silver, finishing 8.8 seconds behind. Ukraine's Valentina Shevchenko took bronze, another 0.5 seconds back.

Kowalczyk also won the 15K skiathlon pursuit last Saturday, after taking bronze in the opening 10K classical race.

In the ski jump, Gregor Schlierenzauer cleared 123 meters in the final jump on the large hill to seal the win for the heavily favored Austrians, who led after the first round. Austria finished with 1,034.3 points, followed by Norway with 1,000.8. Japan took bronze with 981.2 points.

The competitions end Sunday with the men's 50-kilometer cross-country race.

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