Czech Katerina Neumannova clinched a thrilling victory in the women's 30km cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics in Pragelato, Italy, on Friday.

 

Just when it seemed Julija Tchepalova of Russia and Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland were right on their way to gold and silver, Neumannova overtook them to cross the finish in one hour, 22 minutes and 25.4 seconds.

 

Tchepalova, only 1.4 seconds back, took silver and Kowalczyk had bronze.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2006)