Germany’s strongest Nordic combined athlete, Nathalie Armbruster, fought for a good starting position in the mass start. But then too much fresh snow prevents the decisive jumping in Ramsau in Austria – the competition from the previous day is counted.
There’s a problem with the snow. Too little of it prevents competitions in winter sports. But also too much. And so the decision in the mass start of the Nordic combined women could not be made due to the fresh snow in Ramsau in Austria on Friday afternoon (December 20th, 2024).
The jury therefore rated the so-called PCR (Provisional Competition Round) on Thursday as a corresponding jump in addition to the running time at midday. For Nathalie Armbruster, the strongest German combined athlete, this meant that she could no longer improve from fourth place in the final result.
Armbruster complains about the rejection
“Of course, fourth place is not a bad result. And I would probably have been happy if I had made the jump today and then come fourth.”said Armbruster in the Sportschau interview. “I just know that jump yesterday – I can do that better. And I would have liked to show that today.” She thought it was a shame that the athletes weren’t allowed to try any jumps.
Westvold Hansen flies out of the rankings with a chance of winning
Jumps were simply not possible for the women on Friday; one of the jumpers had already fallen and delayed the start. The decision was probably just as annoying as for Armbruster for the former dominator Gyda Westvold Hansen. She was disqualified on Thursday. Her second place in cross-country skiing was suddenly worthless.
The winner, however, was Ida Marie Hagen, who had previously been unbeatable in cross-country skiing. She won ahead of the strong Japanese jumper Huraka Kasai and the Finn Minja Korhonen – with a clear lead, mind you.
Strong German Combiners-Result
Also because Hagen won completely safely on the cross-country ski trail. She won by 8.2 seconds ahead of Westvold Hansen and again 41.2 ahead of Marte Leinan Lund, also a fellow countrywoman. Only 1.4 seconds behind was Armbruster at the finish at midday, definitely with a chance of a podium. It was fourth place because of the meager 83-meter jump on the hill.
Behind Armbruster, Jenny Nowak in sixth, Maria Gerboth in seventh, Cindy Haasch in tenth and Svenja Würth in eleventh rounded off the strong result of the German combined women. Ronja Loh also came 13th. Nowak was second on Thursday, which of course catapulted her forward.