The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships are here!

The highlight of the season, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld are finally here and with it, four sets of medals are on the line in Nordic Combined. New World Champions will be crowned in individual events on the large hill and normal hill and a team of two and a team of four will win gold in the Team Sprint and Team Event.

The first week of the championships will take the Nordic Combined athletes to the iconic HS 130 Bergisel ski jumping hill in Innsbruck, while the second week is dedicated to events on the HS 109 Toni Seelos hill in Seefeld. A total of 75 athletes from 18 nations are entered for the fight for the top positions in Austria, among them athletes from the big Nordic Combined nations Germany, Austria and Norway, smaller but well-known nations from the World Cup like the the Czech Republic, USA, France, Italy, Slovenia or Finland but also Canada, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine and China are sending teams to Seefeld.

In terms of favourites, of course everybody will be looking to the dominator of the current winter, Jarl Magnus Riiber from Norway, and if he can continue his victory series also in Seefeld. Johannes Rydzek (GER) is the defending champion in all four events after his fantastic winning streak in Lahti in 2017 but has struggled at some points this season. A final training camp in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen might have remedied this and put Rydzek back on track to win some more precious metals. If he succeeds, it would be a first:  No reigning world champion has ever successfully defended his title in the large hill event.

For his teammate and Nordic Combined legend Eric Frenzel, things are looking more grim. Struggling on the jumping hill and with health issues in the recent past, Frenzel is not sure if his current  level of performance will be enough for the top ranks, as he is quoted in a German Ski Federation press release. Still with a series of 13 victories in Seefeld since 2010, the place itself might help Frenzel to return to former glory.

Local heroes Mario Seidl and Franz-Josef Rehrl will be looking to defend the home countries colours and with impressive jumping performances and all 2019 Nordic Combined TRIPLE victories under their belt, the two Austrians have handed in excellent calling cards, especially for the large hill competition in Innsbruck. The young Finnish team with Ilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen have entered the favourite group with impressive skiing performances this year, recording many fastest cross-country times and a Team Sprint victory in Lahti (the first Finnish victory since 2010) on the last weekend before the championships.

Throwing in 2014 Olympic Champion Jørgen Graabak, who has had his share of victories this season and an Akito Watabe, who suddenly developed into a sprint finisher to be reckoned with, the possibilities are endless, especially given the fact that with one perfect day, many athletes can become World Champion, as World Championship history has proved in the past. The stage is set, may the Games begin in Seefeld.

The programme

Fr, 22.02.
09:30 Trial Round
10:30 Ind. Gundersen Competition Round HS 130
16:15 Ind. Gundersen 10 km cross-country race
19:00 Medal Ceremony

Sun, 24.02.
09:30 Trial Round
10:30 Team Sprint Competition Round  HS 130
13:30 Team Sprint 2x7.5 km
19:00 Medal Ceremony

Thu, 28.02. 
10:00 Trial Round
11:00 Ind. Gundersen Competition Round HS 109
15:15 Ind. Gundersen 10 km
19:00 Medal Ceremony

Sat, 02.03.
10:00 Trial Round
11:00 Team Competition Round HS 109
14:45 Team 4x 5 km
18:45 Medal Ceremony