Double gold for Graabak and Westvold Hansen at nationals
Apr 02, 2019·Nordic Combined
The Norwegian national championships in Mass Start and Team Sprint here held in Oslo on the past weekend and Jørgen Graabak and Gyda Westvold Hansen were able to add two gold medals each to their merit lists.
While Graabak won the men’s Mass Start event ahead of Magnus Krog and Lars Ivar Skarset and prevailed in the Team Sprint together with his Sør Trøndelag teammate Espen Bjørnstad, Westvold Hansen beat Thea Minyan Bjørseth and Hanna Midtsundstad to the title in the Mass Start and won the Team Sprint together with Marte Leinan Lund.
Hanna Midtsundstad and Magnus Krog were the fastest athletes on the track in the Mass Start races. Midtsundstad crossed the 5 km finish line at 14:12, Oda Leiråmo was second, +0:27 seconds later. Mari Leinan Lund skied the third fastest time with +0:55 seconds at the finish line.
A jump of 95.5 metres on Oslo’s HS 90 Midstubakken catapulted Gyda Westvold Hansen to a total of 118.0 points. Deducting the minus points from her seventh-place finish in the race, Westvold Hansen still won the event with an advantage of 7.8 points on runner-up Thea Minyan Bjørseth, who jumped 87 metres. Midtsundstad clung to the third place and finished -11.3 points behind Westvold Hansen in the end.
Magnus Krog beat Jørgen Graabak to the finish line by eight seconds in the men’s race and with Lars Buraas and Lars Ivar Skårset following just 39 seconds later, Krog had his work cut out for him on the jumping hill.
Espen Bjørnstad was the best jumper with a jump of 103.5 metres, followed by Jan Schmid (102 m) and Harald Riiber (100.5 m). In the final calculation, Graabak won with 123.3 points after showing 96.5 metres on the hill. Magnus Krog took silver with 1.3 points less than Graabak and youngster Lars Ivar Skaarset took bronze (-5.3), beating out Harald Riiber by 0.5 points.
Espen Bjørnstad and Jørgen Graabak were a force to be reckoned with on the jumping hill in the Team Sprint as well and lead the field with a total of 132 points (103 and 96 metres). Einar Lurås Oftebro and Espen Andersen showed 91.5 and 99.5 metres and followed in second place with a total of 122.5, Simen Kvarstad and Jan Schmid were third with 118.8 points.
Graabak and Bjørnstad celebrated a clear start - finish victory and finally crossed the line 43 seconds ahead of Lurås Oftebro and Andersen. Simen Tiller and Truls Johansen battled their way to the bronze medal and finished two minutes and 11 seconds later in what would be Johansen’s last-ever race.
Gyda Westvold Hansen and Marte Leinan Lund took the top spot in the ladies jumping event with 94.8 points and also did not relinquish their lead again. 30 seconds separated them from silver medallists Mari Leinan Lund and Hanna Midtsundstad at the finish line. The duo from Hedmark overtook Thea Minyan Bjørseth and Thea Øihaugen, on the track but the duo from Oppland was able to bring the bronze medal home, finishing +2:40 after the winners.
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