Nathalie Armbruster achieved her fifth podium finish of the season at the Nordic Combined World Cup premiere in Oberhof.
Six days after her disqualification in Otepää, the 2023 World Cup runner-up had to admit defeat in second place only to World Cup leader Ida Marie Hagen from Norway. Third place in the Compact Race went to Minja Korhonen from Finland.
“I would have had so much to say on Sunday – that was my answer today,” said Armbruster, who was disqualified in Estonia because of a suit that did not conform to the rules. At the finish she was 7.7 seconds behind Hagen. “For me it’s like a victory. It means so much to me to be here on the podium.” Jenny Nowak finished eleventh as the second best German.
Armbruster had laid the foundation for success in the morning with a good jump of 97.5 m. She entered the trail in fourth place, five seconds ahead of Hagen – in the Compact Race, the time gaps between places are specified. On the track she had to let Hagen go early, but it was enough for second place.
“After last week, Nathalie put an incredible amount of thought into it and used a lot of energy to shake it off. Today she gave the answer. Hats off,” said national coach Florian Aichinger on “ZDF”.
For the women it was the first World Cup on the Grenzadler. The men are also at the start in Oberhof – for the first time in 16 years.
