In Otepää, Estonia, there will be a mass start for the Nordic Combined women for the first time this season. After the 5 km run, Gyda Westvold Hansen from Norway leads once again. But Nathalie Armbruster also has good chances of her fourth World Cup podium this winter.
In contrast to the traditional Gundersen method, the athletes in the mass start first go to the cross-country ski run before the competition on the normal hill begins. Instead of seconds, meters are run out in this discipline.
Gyda Westvold Hansen, who has won all individual races in this World Cup season so far, was able to secure the best starting position of the 30 starters before the jumping (from January 16th, 2023) on Saturday (07.01.2023) at crisp minus temperatures in Otepää clock in the sports show live ticker). Her lead at the finish (13:36.6 minutes) was a mere seven tenths over teammate Ida Marie Hagen.
Armbruster has podium in view
The Slovenian Ema Volavsek is eleven seconds behind in third place. The only 16-year-old Nathalie Armbruster has a good chance of clinching her next podium this winter in fourth place, 13.6 seconds behind. Converted, she is 3.4 points behind Westvold Hansen.
The other German starters, on the other hand, are already jumping with a decent mortgage. Jenny Nowak finished 13th (+30.8 seconds), but still has every chance of a place in the top ten. Maria Gerboth (18./+1:11.6 minutes), Magdalena Burger (20./+1:15.3), Svenja Würth (21./+1:15.5) and Cindy Haasch (27./+ 2:29.3), on the other hand, are already far behind.
Norwegian duo dominates
From the first few meters, Armbruster sorted himself into a five-man lead group. As expected, Westvold Hansen and Hagen pushed the pace up front, so that the first groups quickly formed in the field. Except for Armbruster, all DSV starters had to leave a gap. After the first of two laps, Armbruster was even able to move ahead of Westvold Hansen. At this point, Nowak was the second best German, but was already 13 seconds behind the leaders.
Then the Norwegian duo Hagen/Westvold Hansen pushed the pace once more – with success. Armbruster’s pursuers fell back, the deficit grew second by second. In the final sprint, Hansen finally clinched victory with a lead of 0.7 seconds over Hagen. Armbruster still had to let the Slovenian Volavsek pass, but got a good starting position with fourth place.