Kokslien seals double World Cup win in Almaty

By Sportsbeat staff

FOR THE second day in a row Norway's Mikko Kokslien produced a dominant display of cross-country skiing to take FIS Nordic Combined World Cup gold in the Gundersen event in Almaty.

Japan's Akito Watabe was forced to settle for silver despite topping the standings after the ski-jump and holding a 46-second headstart over Kokslien.

But the 26-year-old Norwegian proved too strong in the cross-country and stole victory by a narrow 2.7second margin.

Third on the day in Kazakhstan was Germany's Bernhard Gruber a further two seconds back with overall World Cup leader Frenchman Jason Lamy Chappuis fifth.

Kokslien made up a 45-second gap in Saturday's race to take his first World Cup gold in 2012 and he still had enough left in the tank on Sunday to seal the double win and move up to third in the overall rankings. 

(c) Sportsbeat 2012