Norwegian ski jumper Roar Ljoekelsoey has won his third World Cup large hill event of the season, beating overall points leader Janne Ahonen in Sapporo, Japan.
Ljoekelsoey finished with jumps of 132 meters and 133.50 m. for a total of 281.4 points. Ahonen was second with jumps of 135.50 m. and 129 m. for a total of 271.1 points. Martin Hoellwarth of Austria was third, with 265.6 points.
Ahonen leads the overall World Cup standings with 880 points after 18 of 28 events. Sigurd Pettersen of Norway is second (657 points). Martin Hoellwarth is third overall (651 points). The next event is Sunday, also in Sapporro.
Russian biathlete Sergei Tchepikov has won a World Cup men's 10-kilometer sprint event in Anterselva, Italy, his first major victory since winning the Olympic title nearly 10 years ago.
Tchepikov finished the event in 25:9.6 minutes with no misses in the shooting portion. Slovenia's Janez Maric was second, 21.4 seconds back with German Ricco Gross third with one miss in the shooting.
World Cup overall points leader Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway finished 10th in the race with two misses, but still leads the overall standings with 472 points. Frenchman Raphael Poireé is second overall, 22 seconds behind Bjoerndalen. Ricco Gross of Germany is third.