AP
Samppa Lajunen displays 3 Olympic gold medals

Finland's triple Olympic champion Samppa Lajunen has won the World Cup nordic combined event in Lahti, Finland. That was the scene of a doping scandal in last year's competition that brought the national sport to its knees. Friday's event featured two ski jumps from the big hill (K120) and a 15-kilometer cross country ski race. Lajunen was fastest in 40 minutes, 56.2 seconds. Germany's double silver medallist Ronny Ackermann came second and Finland's Jaakko Tallus third. Austria's Felix Gottwald was fifth but maintains the overall lead in the season's standings.

The 22-year-old Lajunen, a guitar-playing economics student, became the most decorated Olympic nordic combined athlete of all time in Salt Lake City, winning three gold medals to add to the two silver he won at Nagano in 1998.

Since last year's doping scandal in Lahti, after which a host of top names were banned from the sport, Lajunen has helped restore some faith in the integrity of Finland's nordic heroes.

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