Gold medalist Steffen Tepel of Germany celebrates after the 10km cross country finals of Nordic combined individual competition at the 24th World Winter Universiade in the Yabuli Ski Resort, 195km southeast away from Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 20, 2009. [Xinhua/Wang Jianwei]

Germany Steffen Tepel edged Japanese Chota Hatakeyama to win the Nordic combined individual event at the 24th Harbin Winter Universiade on Friday.

Finishing fifth in the opening ski jumping portion and starting the 10-kilometer cross country race 68 seconds behind winner Petr Kutal of Czech Republic, Tepel beat Hatakeyama by 16.6 seconds after a strong ski performance.

Gold medalist Steffen Tepel of Germany competes during the K90m Ski Jumping finals of Nordic combined individual competition at the 24th World Winter Universiade in the Yabuli Ski Resort, 195km southeast away from Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 20, 2009. [Xinhua/Wang Jianwei]

Hatakeyama, the fourth finisher in the ski jump competition, took home the silver medal ahead of Austrian Benjamin Kreiner, who was 1:51.4 behind Tepel.

After notching 130.5 points in ski jump, Kutal slipped to the 13th place with a disappointing 21st rank in the ski race.

Three Chinese skiers made their debut in the Nordic combined event before Sun Jianping got the best finish of them after placing 22nd among 26 competitors.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2009)