Ahead of the World Cup premiere of the new “Compact Race” format, there is a mixture of anticipation and skepticism in Nordic Combined.
The new DSV head coach Eric Frenzel is hoping for more excitement. “That’s what we want to see: jumping as a start and fights on the trail,” said Frenzel in the “Ski happens” podcast. The new format will celebrate its premiere at the start of the season on Friday in Kuusamo.
In the Compact Race, the first thing you do is jump as usual, but the time difference for the following cross-country ski run, which is only 7.5 kilometers instead of ten kilometers, has already been determined. The first place jumper goes onto the track six seconds before the second place finisher, and after 90 seconds all athletes are on the track. This means the field is getting closer together and good jumpers can no longer get a big lead.
The clearly best jumper in the field, the Norwegian Jarl Magnus Riiber, has so far been less comfortable with the new format.
“I am in favor of the combination remaining a combination. The best ski jumper and cross-country skier should win in the end,” said the eight-time world champion on “NRK”. In the new format, however, it doesn’t matter whether you jump well or badly.
There are three compact races on the program for men this coming winter and two for women. At the end of the season, a small World Cup ball will be awarded for the first time in the new category. “We’ll see if it’s fair. Together with the mass start, which tends to favor the good jumpers, we have a good balance,” says FIS race director Lasse Ottensen.
In the mass start, you first run and then jump, so together with the established Gundersen method, there will be three formats next winter. This will make the combination more attractive in view of the impending Olympic exit.