Nordic combined: Jarl Magnus Riiber overtakes Ronny Ackermann
This Saturday, in the packed stands of the Granåsen stadium in Trondheim (Norway), thousands of Norwegian fans were waiting for the races of two men: Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo and Jarl Magnus Riiber. At the start of the afternoon, the former fulfilled his contract by becoming world champion in the cross-country skiathlon.
From 4pm, it was the turn of the combined event to thrill its fans in the pursuit of the individual compact. In the lead after winning the jumping competition at midday, Jarl Magnus Riiber produced a recital in this 7.5km cross-country race. Although he was caught by several big guns in the first two laps, the king of Nordic combined raced to perfection in the final.
Positioning himself perfectly and resisting the onslaught of Jens Luraas Oftebro, who had climbed from sixteenth place, he overtook his compatriot in the final straight to become the first ever world champion in this compact format. In doing so, he won his tenth world gold medal… his fifth as an individual. In doing so, Jarl Magnus Riiber surpassed Germany’s Ronny Ackermann, who was crowned solo champion four times in his career.
Norway completed the double with a silver medal for Jens Luraas Oftebro , while Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger was tanned ahead of Julian Schmid and Austria’s Johannes Lamparter, who were too short for the podium.
Laurent Muhlethaler completes the top 10 in the strong category
Laurent Muhlethaler from the Jura, seventh at the start after a great ski jumping competition, came back into the lead with 2.5 km to go before letting go. But the combined rider from Les Rousses (Jura) didn’t crack and finished tenth.
“I left on my own and put my ski down. I let them come back and things got pretty exciting up front. In the end, we managed to catch up with the leading group at the end of the second lap. I started to dream a bit, but I couldn’t respond when it all clicked. I’m not missing much, but enough to admit defeat. I was aiming for a top 10 finish at these World Championships, so I’ve fulfilled my contract”, he explained afterwards in the mixed zone.
Gaël Blondeau climbed 14 places to finish seventeenth, whileEdgar Vallet was thirty-sixth.
Full results
- The full programme for the cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping world championships in Trondheim, the highlight of the 2024/2025 season
- Six-man French team for the Trondheim Worlds… for now
- Marion Droz-Vincent completes the French squad for the Trondheim World Championships
- Trondheim: Gyda Westvold Hansen wins the mass-start cross-country skiing race, Léna Brocard tenth at 31 sec 7
- Trondheim: Yuna Kasai first ever mass-start world champion, Léna Brocard fifteenth
- Mattéo Baud withdraws from the world championships in Trondheim
- Trondheim: buoyed by Jarl Magnus Riiber and Gyda Westvold Hansen, the Norwegians took the lead after the jump in the mixed competition, with France in seventh place.
- Trondheim: Norway golden in mixed competition, sixth place for France
- Trondheim: Jarl Magnus Riiber ahead after the compact jump, Laurent Muhlethaler seventh, 30 seconds behind
