Rydzek comes from behind to lead German sweep

Johannes Rydzek overcame a time handicap of more than half a minute to storm through and win Germany's second Nordic Combined gold medal of the Pyeongchang Olympics on Tuesday as team mates Fabian Riessle and Eric Frenzel took silver and bronze.

Skiing together throughout the four laps of the floodlit cross-country course, the three Germans gradually reeled in their rivals, cancelling out the deficit they incurred by placing fifth, sixth and fourth in the ski jump part of the competition.

It was Germany's 11th gold medal of the Games, taking them level with Norway at the top of the table.

Japan's Akito Watabe had taken a one-second head-start into the cross-country race, ahead of Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway, after scoring the most points in the ski jump from the 142 metre Large Hill.

With each point translating into a four-second advantage at the start of the cross-country, Frenzel set off 24 seconds behind Watabe, with Rydzek a further seven seconds back and Riessle another three.

As Watabe and Riiber fought each other for the lead, the three Germans closed inexorably on them, and by two-thirds into the 10km race they had closed the gap with their rivals.

On the final lap, the...