Germany's Arndt wins European 4-man bobsled title

Maximilian Arndt's four-man team was 0.16 faster than second-place Switzerland, led by Beat Hefti.

Kerstin Joensson/AP

IGLS, Austria (AP) -- German bobsledder Maximilian Arndt led his four-man team to victory Sunday in a World Cup race that also counted as the European bobsled championships.

Arndt and his team of Marko Huebenbecker, Alexander Roediger and Martin Putze were fastest in both heats at the 1976 Olympic track and finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 43.33 seconds.

They were 0.16 faster than second-place Switzerland, led by Beat Hefti, who won the European two-man bobsled title Saturday.

Another German team, led by Thomas Florschuetz, was 0.18 back in third.

Arndt now has 1,574 points in the World Cup standings and extended his lead over Zubkov to 47 points with one World Cup event in Sochi in February remaining.

Fourcade helps France win biathlon World Cup relay

ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) -- Martin Fourcade anchored France to a second consecutive relay victory in the biathlon World Cup on Sunday.

France completed the 4x7.5-kilometer race in 1 hour, 13 minutes, 26 seconds - 10.1 seconds ahead of Russia, which was anchored by Dmitry Malyshko.

Fourcade had started two seconds ahead of Malyshko, but superb skiing in difficult conditions saw him extend that advantage despite missing four targets. Malyshko had two misses.

France's win prevented Russia's Anton Shipulin from emulating Fourcade's achievements in Germany last week and completing a sweep at Anterselva.

Austria was third, 1:18.5 behind France.

Germany won the women's race in 1:13:02.1, beating Russia by 17.4 seconds. France was third, 40.9 seconds slower than the Germans.

German women dominate, Austrians win luge doubles

WINTERBERG, Germany (AP) -- Natalie Geisenberger won her fifth luge World Cup event of the season Sunday, leading a German sweep of the top four places.

Geisenberger beat Anke Wischnewski by .020 seconds to stretch her overall lead in the World Cup standings two weeks before the world championships in Whistler, British Columbia.

Olympic champion Tatjana Huefner was third and Corinna Martini fourth.

American Olympian Julia Clukey finished seventh. She is coming back from knee problems and Arnold-Chiari syndrome, a congenital disorder that affects the base of the skull. Two years ago, bone needed to be shaved from her skull to relieve headaches and chronic fatigue.

Olympic champions Andreas and Wolfgang Linger of Austria won the men's doubles, becoming the first non-Germans to win the event in seven races this season.

Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken of Germany placed second, ahead of Italy's Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber.

Frenzel wins Nordic combined; Fletcher of U.S. 3rd

SEEFELD, Austria (AP) -- Eric Frenzel of Germany won his second Nordic combined World Cup event of the weekend Sunday. Taylor Fletcher of the United States was third.

Frenzel outsprinted Norway's Mikko Kokslien and Fletcher in the home stretch of the 10-kilometer cross country to finish in 25 minutes, 19.9 seconds. It was his sixth World Cup victory.

Kokslien was 2.9 seconds behind and beat Fletcher in a photo finish. Fletcher had the same time in reaching his first World Cup podium.

Haavard Klemetsen had the best ski jump but the Norwegian finished 24th.

Defending World Cup champion Jason Lamy Chappuis of France, who finished 15th, leads the standings with 527 points, He is followed by Norway's Magnus Moan (508) and Frenzel (474).

The Nordic combined World Cup resumes next weekend in Klingenthal, Germany.

Czech Jan Matura wins 2nd World Cup ski jump event

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) -- Jan Matura of the Czech Republic won a large hill event Sunday for his second straight victory in World Cup ski jumping.

Matura landed jumps of 132.5 and 133 meters for a total of 247 points. He beat Robert Kranjec of Slovenia by 1.3 points. Kranjec had jumps of 131 and 134 meters. Andreas Wank of Germany finished third with 241 points.

Matura won his first World Cup on Saturday. He took advantage of a weakened field, with many top jumpers skipping the trip to Japan.

Norway wins cross-country World Cup relay events

LA CLUSAZ, France (AP) -- Norway again won both the men's and women's relay competitions at a cross-country World Cup meet Sunday.

The men's team of Eldar Roenning, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Sjur Roethe and Didrik Toenseth finished the 4x7.5-kilometer race in 1 hour, 17 minute, 22 seconds to edge Sweden by half a second.

The Czech Republic had to settle for third, as 0.8 seconds separated the top three.

In the women's event, triple Olympic champion Marit Bjoergen anchored a team that also included Heidi Weng, Therese Johaug and Kristin Stoermer Steira, finishing the 4x5K race in 57:05.4. They beat Finland by 27.9 seconds, with another Norwegian team third.

It is Bjoergen's seventh victory in seven races this season.

Norway also had a clean sweep in the last relays, at the season-opening World Cup meet in Sweden.