Ski Worlds: Armbruster's Medal Hope Crushed

Armbruster’s Medal Hope Dashed

At the World Championships, combined competitor Nathalie Armbruster looked set for a medal in the mass start event. However, while she was on track during the cross-country skiing leg, her performance on the ski jump fell short of expectations.

Armbruster, who had been considered one of the favorites, finished sixth after the victory of Japan’s Yuna Kasai. Team mate Jenny Nowak, another strong contender, finished fifth. The silver medal in the mass start went to three-time defending champion Gyda Westvold Hansen of Norway, finishing ahead of Yuna’s twin, Haruka Kasai.

"I was very, very nervous before the start. It’s a different feeling when you enter a World Championship with the favorites’ tag," Armbruster said. She missed the medal by only 6.7 points – which translates to about three and a half meters – while Nowak was only around two meters off the pace.

Ski Worlds: Armbruster Falls Short on the Jump

After the 5km cross-country race, the 19-year-old from the Black Forest was in fourth place and still had a chance to board the podium. In the subsequent Nordic combined jump on the small Granasen hill, she managed a distance of only 89.0 meters. Already in fourth place as the remaining competitors took their jumps, she could not make up sufficient ground.

Not to be outdone, Yuna Kasai dominated the jump to secure her third consecutive title, while Norwegian Ida Marie Hagen – who had celebrated seven consecutive victories at the season’s start – ended up tenth. Newcomer Trine Göpfert (17) made a satisfactory debut, but Maria Gerboth (21) fell short of expectations.

Armbruster now looks ahead to the mixed-team event on Friday (with the schedule set at 12:00 for the jump and 16:05 for the cross-country leg, broadcast on ZDF and Eurosport), in which two men and two women form a team. For the DSV quartet, anything short of a medal would be a disappointment.

Mit Sport-Informations-Dienst (SID)