Nordic combined: end of career for Jarl Magnus Riiber
Norwegian Jarl Magnus Riiber called a surprise press conference this Wednesday morning in Seefeld (Austria), on the eve of the start of the Triple. At it, the king of Nordic combined announced that he had decided to call time on his career as a top-level sportsman at the end of the season, after a winter in which he will compete at the World Championships on home soil.
The main reason for this career break is simple: Jarl Magnus Riiber suffers from Crohn’s disease, a condition that weakens his immune system. “It also causes pain in the joints and tendons, which explains the aches I’ve been suffering from for a long time,” he says.
Jarl Magnus Riiber currently has a record 76 World Cup victories to his name. He has won the crystal globe five times and has an incredible 104 podium finishes from 139 World Cup starts. Also an eight-time world gold medallist, he will be aiming to increase that total in the coming weeks in Trondheim (Norway).
He will never be Olympic champion
“Injuries and illnesses have been a constant challenge throughout my career, from sore ankles to knee problems, back prolapses, chronic sinus infections, shoulder dislocations and joint pain. I don’t think many people understand the extent and the choices I’ve had to make to come back again and again. What I did to become the best handset in the world, only those closest to me understand how long and tedious it was”, he continues.
Even the prospect of the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina 2026 next year, with the ambition of finally shining solo in the quadrennial competition, hasn’t changed Jarl Magnus Riiber’s mind. “I’d have to make even more sacrifices when my health doesn’t allow me to know whether my body will be able to withstand them,” he says.
After biathletes Johannes Thingnes Boe and Tarjei Boe, Norwegian Nordic skiing will lose another legend in March.
