Germany gets golden revenge in Olympic Team Event

Team Germany got their revenge for the lost gold medal in Sochi and clearly stepped on top of the podium in PyeongChang. Eric Frenzel, Vinzenz Geiger, Fabian Rießle and Johannes Rydzek won 52.7 seconds ahead of Sochi winners Norway. Jan Schmid, Espen Andersen, Jarl Riiber and Jørgen Graabak beat the Austrian team (Denifl, Seidl, Klapfer, Gruber) for the silver medal. Seidl finished for Austria one minute and seven seconds after the winners.

The jumping part developed into a true thriller with many athletes landing long jumps, producing a tight field for the cross-country race. Four teams were in the running for the three medals and all four of them, Austria, Germany, Japan and Norway, started within the first 27 seconds of the race.

Together with young gun Mario Seidl, the Austrian veterans Bernhard Gruber, Lukas Klapfer and Willi Denifl laid the best possible foundation for their bid for a medal in the jumping part. 131, 136, 131 and 138.5 metres meant the pole position with a point total of 469.5 points.

The big favourites from Germany started their race only 6 seconds later after Frenzel and Rydzek won the first and the last groups with jumps of 137 and 138 metres. In total, they had 464.7 points to show for and were right on track for the cross-country race and their revenge for the defeat in Sochi four years ago.

As expected, the team from Japan was in the top group as well, with strong jumpers Hideaki Nagai, Go Yamamoto, Yoshito and Akito Watabe claiming 455.3 points with jumps of 127, 132.5, 128 and 137.5 metres.

The title defenders from Norway ranked fourth with jumping sensation Jarl Magnus Riiber sharing the win in group two with Bernhard Gruber. Both athletes were rewarded with with 117.9 points for their jumps of 136 and 133.5 metres. Jørgen Graabak was finally back in luck with the winds and produced 133.5 metres as well, added with 128.5 metres from Espen Andersen and a good jump of 132 metres from Jan Schmid, this meant a team total of 449.2 points.

Germany was on gold medal course already from the first leg onwards in which Vinzenz Geiger not only closed the six-second gap to Willi Denifl but overtook and opened a gap himself. Exchanging to Fabian Rießle, the gap to the pursuers was 12 seconds big and as Norway’s Espen Andersen and Austria’s Lukas Klapfer did not work together to pursue Rießle, the gap increased to 43 seconds at the halfway point of the race.

Japan was still in the mix of the pursuers until the third leg, when Go Yamamoto had to let go of Bernhard Gruber and Jarl Riiber, so that Akito Watabe had a delay of over one minute and no chance to fight for the podium on his leg of the race. While Bernhard Gruber had worked towards a small advantage of six second at the last exchange, Mario Seidl proved to be no match for the Norwegian final skier Jørgen Graabak, who brought the silver medal home. Seidl and his compatriots still celebrated their bronze thoroughly.

Japan claimed the fourth position, France was fifth, Finland sixth, the Czech Republic claimed rank seventh, Italy eight and the Polish team outsprinted Team USA for the ninth position in their Olympic debut.

With this result, Johannes Rydzek and Eric Frenzel now travel home as double Olympic Champions and Germany swept all Olympic gold medals available in Nordic Combined.

Quotes:

Johannes RYDZEK (GER) - gold

"Of course the gap was big but you have to be focused, have to do your race. I could enjoy the last metres really. It was such a great day for team Germany. It's crazy. We didn't expect that before the Games. I know we are in a good shape but (we have) not all worked together before. We always believed in us and had a good spirit here in PyeongChang. Other times will come, though. We're enjoying it now. I think there are also some great nations - they showed in the World Cup before it's not always Germany. But here in PyeongChang I think we did a great job."

Joergen GRAABAK (NOR)

"It's a really good day for us and it means a lot. A silver medal is really good and it's a good way to end the championships. We've struggled a bit in the hill and the individual competitions but today everyone did a great job and it's really good to have a medal."

On SCHMID ending his Olympic career with a first medal:

"That's the most special thing about the day. He's been in the Olympics since 2002 and today is his final race and we were able to deliver a silver medal for him. It's well deserved and it means a lot to us as well."

Mario SEIDL (AUT)

"It's amazing to win this medal with this great team, it is my first Olympic medal. It was the first time for me to run on this position, the last position, so I was a little bit nervous, but my teammates gave me a great position. The Germans and the Norwegians were just a little bit too strong."