Daito Takahashi took advantage of the lead he built up in the ski-jumping leg to claim his first title at the Nordic combined national championships Thursday.
Takahashi, who had a 65-second advantage after Wednesday's jumps, maintained his lead over the 15-km cross-country course in Hakuba. Takanori Hagiwara took second, 65.8 seconds behind, followed by Gen Tomii in third.
Meanwhile, Nagano Olympic team member Masaaki Kozu, who emerged victorious in the men's 10-km classical Wednesday, cruised through the 15-km freestyle leg for his first title of the combined cross-country event.
Kozu finished with a combined time of 1 hour, 9 minutes, 45.1 seconds ahead of Kazuyuki Kuwahara (1:11:23.5) and Daichi Azegami (1:11:24.6). In the women's combined event, Norwegian Jorunn Oeye's total time of 49:29.6 in the 5-km classical and 10-km freestyle gave her first place in the championships, which double as the International Ski Federation Continental Cup.