Geraghty-Moats and Ilves shake up Norges Cup weekend
Aug 19, 2019·Nordic Combined
While the Norwegian A-team was in the USA for a shared Norwegian - USA Nordic training camp in Park City, Tara Geragthy-Moats (USA) and Kristjan Ilves (EST) added international flair to the Norges Cup weekend held in Trondheim just now. Both are spending some time to train in Norway this summer and - looking at the result lists - their initiative has paid off.
Much like last season, Geragthy-Moats claimed two clear victories in the women’s category, while Ilves came away with a third and second place in the men’s A-class.
Geraghty-Moats in a class of her own
Strong ski jumping had the American head the result lists at the halfway points of the competitions at Granåsen: 94 metres and a point total of 134.4 on day one, followed by 85 metres and 109.4 points on day two. Strong Norwegian jumper Gyda Westvold Hansen, however, gave Geraghty-Moats a run for her money, showing 97 metres but without a telemark landing on Saturday (131.4 p.) and 85 metres and also a point total of 109.4 points on Sunday. Marte Leinan Lund started her races from position three on both days.
With Westvold Hansen not racing on both days, the strongest competition was out of the game in the women’s races. Tara Geraghty-Moats crossed the finish line as the clear winner on both days, distancing runner-up Marte Leinan Lund by two minutes and four seconds on day one and Mari Leinan Lund in a cross-country run by two minutes and 40 seconds on day two. The third place on day one went to Mari Leinan Lund (+3:22) and Marte Leinan Lund (+2:58).
Graabak and Næsvold take wins on men’s side
2014 Olympic Champion Jørgen Graabak returned to his winning ways on Saturday after ranking sixth in a jumping competition won by jumping prodigy Simen Kvarstad with 131 metres and 127.6 points. Sindre Ure Søtvik and Kristjan Ilves followed on intermediate positions two and three with jumps of 129 (124 p.) and 127 metres (120.4 p.). Graabak showed 123 metres, which translated into a time delay of one minute and 13 seconds at the start.
The fastest cross-country time of 22:41 had Graabak cross the finish line less than one second ahead of Leif Torbjørn Næsvold, who had started at exactly the same time as Graabak and stayed with him all the way. Kristjan Ilves defended his third place against Kasper Moen Flatla by one second only.
On the second competition day, it was Sindre Ure Søtvik who headed the ski jumping result list with a jump of 135.5 metres and 135.7 points. Simen Kvarstad and Leif Torbjørn Næsvold followed with 131 metres and 127.6 points each but this time, there was no stopping Næsvold.
The 21-year old ran to victory in a 8-km cross-country run with a strong time of 30:49 and claimed the win by 31 seconds over Kristjan Ilves. The Estonian had started his race from position five and showed the second-best cross-country time of the field. Jørgen Graabak was the fastest man on the track once more but could only salvage a third place after starting with a delay of one minute and 11 seconds after the jumping event.
The victories in the NC-B category both went to Johan Fredriksen Orset.
Result lists (all categories)
Final Results Sunday
Ski Jumping Results Sunday
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