“I wanted to run, but I couldn’t run anymore”
German combined athlete collapses in the race
December 19, 2025 – 2:25 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Nathalie Armbruster suddenly collapsed on the cross-country ski trail. She still managed to finish the race. She later spoke tearfully about the incident.
A collapse on the cross-country ski trail overshadowed the Nordic combined competition in Ramsau: Nathalie Armbruster not only missed the podium for the first time this winter – her health condition caused a moment of shock. The 19-year-old combined athlete from the Black Forest collapsed after 3.2 of five kilometers in the mass start race and remained motionless for several seconds.
“Suddenly my body just shut down everything. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t anymore,” said Armbruster on ZDF. With tears in her eyes, she explained: “I just collapsed and then thought: Yes, that was the end of the race. And then I lay there – and thought: No, I can’t accept not coming to the finish. Then I stood up again, got a new stick and kept running – not fast anymore, but at least I reached the finish.”
And further: “I didn’t want to prove anything to anyone, I just wanted to show myself that when you think it’s no longer possible, you should never give up.”
According to the German Ski Association, it was a circulatory problem. Armbruster initially finished the race in 13th place, 1:30.7 minutes behind winner Ida Marie Hagen. The Norwegian celebrated her second World Cup victory of the season and extended her lead in the overall standings.
A good two hours after the incident, Armbruster also competed in jumping. With 84.0 meters she made up one more place and finished the competition in twelfth place. The best German athlete was Jenny Nowak in seventh place. Ronja Loh and Trine Göpfert followed Armbruster in 17th and 20th place.
Behind Hagen, Alexa Brabec (USA) and Minja Korhonen (Finland) landed on the podium. The last competition of the year follows on Saturday in Ramsau – again in the classic Gundersen format.