Nathalie Armbruster made it to the podium in the Nordic Combined for the second time this season at the World Cup in Seefeld (Austria) on Friday (February 2, 2024). Once again there were two Norwegians at the top.
Mari Leinan Lund started the five-kilometer route as the leader with 26 seconds on Ida Marie Hagen – but the pursuer was able to catch up immediately and soon overtake her. Already halfway through the cross-country run, with a lead of 21.6 seconds, it was clear that she would take her fourth win of the season. In the end, Hagen, who also claimed the yellow jersey of the World Cup leaders, had a lead of 59.4 seconds.
Her teammate and dominator last season, Gyda Westvold Hansen (celebrated 13 victories in a row) made a mistake in the jumping, started seventh and had to settle for fourth place at the finish. However, as in all of the previous eight races of the season, a non-Norwegian athlete did not make it to one of the first two places.
Würth against Armbruster without a chance – and with a fall
After her recent podium finish in Schonach, Armbruster managed to move up to third place again. The 18-year-old started 1:03 minutes behind Leinan Lund and quickly caught up with Svenja Würth, who had entered the trail 14 seconds ahead of her. After Armbruster had distanced herself from her DSV colleague after 1.2 kilometers, she ran unchallenged towards the podium towards the finish. There she celebrated with a gap of 1:13.3 minutes to the winner Hagen.
“I’m really happy about third place, it was a really, really good race. I felt very good and powerful right from the start, and I also coped very well with the fact that it was so deep on the track” said Armbruster in the Sportschau interview.
Würth then had bad luck and fell. She then tried to keep up with her competitors, but then had to give up. Jenny Nowak came in a strong seventh place, 2:57.7 minutes behind, Maria Gerboth crossed the finish line in 16th place.