Nordic combined: Akito Watabe takes large hill bronze at world c'ships

Japan's Akito Watabe took bronze in the Nordic combined large hill individual Gundersen competition Thursday to reach the podium at a third straight Nordic World Ski Championships.Reigning junior world champion Johannes Lamparter from Austria won the event in Oberstdorf, Germany, ahead of normal hill world champion Jarl Magnus Riiber and Watabe.The 32-year-old Watabe achieved the second-highest score in the jump, flying 137.5 meters and earning 147.6 points to start the 10-kilometer cross-country race 22 seconds behind Lamparter.With Lamparter leaving the rest of the field in his wake, Wata…READ FULL ARTICLE