Kristjan Ilves is Estonian champion 2023

Kristjan Ilves crowns himself Estonian champion 2023.

On December 30th, 2023 the penultimate day of the year, the Estonian championship titles were awarded to Nordic Combined athletes at the Tehvandi sports center in Otepää. Individual titles were awarded to the men as well as to men's juniors and in the M-16 category. Athletes from Latvia also competed.

16 athletes competed against each other in the Estonian Nationals in Nordic Combined. Kristjan Ilves, the best Nordic combined athlete in Estonia, was also at the start after a long time, and showed a good competition among the men in his age group both on the ski jumping hill and on the cross-country course, receiving a well-deserved gold medal in the end. Markkus Alter, representing Põhjakotkas Otepää, finished in second place. Nõmme Ski Club's young athlete Ruubert Teder secured the bronze medal.

Põhjakotkas Otepää won both medals in the male junior age class. Andero Kapp took the first place, and the silver medal belonged to Richard Viks this time.

The competitions in the M16 age group also functioned as test competitions and determined who will represent Estonia at the Youth Olympic Winter Games in Ganwon (KOR) from January 19th to February 1st, 2024. K
arel Pastarus, the young athlee of Elva Ski Club, took the Estonian National title with a beautiful jump and a strong race. Nõmme Ski Club representative Fred Gustavson finished the race in second place, and Ralf Rebane from Võru Sports School/Andsumäe Ski Club took rank three. Based on these results, Karel and Fred will represent Estonia at the Youth Olympic Winter Games.

Source: Estonian Ski Association