Nordic Combined athletes shine at Cross-Country nationals
Aug 31, 2018·Nordic Combined
The national championships in Cross-Country Skiing of Germany and Austria were held on the past weekend and in both countries, the participating Nordic Combined athletes shone on the long distances.
In Austria, Paul Gerstgraser and Bernhard Flaschberger, both known as very fast cross-country skiers, took positions one and two in the 30 km race in Eisenerz. Gersgraser won in a time of one hour, eleven minutes and 54 seconds, 0.9 seconds ahead of teammate Bernhard Flaschberger. Spectators saw a suspenseful event with a leading group that comprised athletes of all Nordic disciplines. In the end, Gerstgraser had the best finish, Philipp Orter ranked sixth and Thomas Jöbstl was tenth. Lukas Klapfer won in the category Men I (1:16:24.1).
Gerstgraser: “The speed of the leading group was extremely high, which suited me and Bernhard. We attacked on the last uphill and were able to open a small gap to the pursuers which we luckily maintained until the finish line. Now I can celebrate my first championship in the open class in cross-country skiing!”
Nordic Combined superstar Eric Frenzel participated in the German championships over 50 km in his hometown of Oberwiesenthal and ended up on a very respectable tenth position out of 24 starters. Frenzel finished the 50 km in two hours, eleven minutes and 58 seconds. With this time, he was eight minutes and 29 seconds behind winner Jonas Dobler.
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