Armbruster storms to victory in first ever women’s Triple in Seefeld
Feb 02, 2025·Nordic Combined
Nathalie Armbruster (GER) claimed the first ever women’s ‘Triple’ trophy in Seefeld after storming to victory in Sunday’s Gundersen to post a second FIS Viessmann World Cup win in consecutive days.
In the absence of World Cup leader Ida Marie Hagen (NOR), whose disqualification from Saturday’s Compact for a suit infringement in the jumping meant the defending champion was also not allowed to compete in the Gundersen, Armbruster seized her opportunity for the second day in a row.
Carrying a 9.4-point lead over Gyda Westvold Hansen (NOR) into the day’s jumping round, the 19-year-old matched Westvold Hansen’s 97.0-meter effort on the HS109 hill to give herself a 53-second advantage over the two-time champion heading into the cross-country.
In glorious sunshine and hard, fast tracks, Ambruster gradually extended her lead to over a minute after a third of the 7.5km as Westvold Hansen struggled to make any impression on the German front-runner.
Armbruster maintained a strong pace to stretch out her advantage to 1:13.4 by the 5km mark and had plenty of time to grab a German flag to celebrate on the final straight as she came home in 21:18.7, a minute and 24 seconds clear of Westvold Hansen in second.
With Hagen unable to compete in Saturday’s cross-country or Sunday’s Gundersen and score any World Cup points, Armbruster also takes over the lead in the overall standings, with a 105-point lead over the defending champion.
“It is crazy,” she added. “It will be a completely different feeling to wear the yellow bib in Otepää (EST) next week. It is still unbelievable I can call myself Queen of Seefeld right now.”
Westvold Hansen ploughed a lone furrow as a four-way fight for third place gathered pace behind her, with both Lena Brocard (FRA) and Alexa Brabec (USA) chasing their first World Cup podiums and the Kasai twins (JPN), Yuna and Haruka, in close pursuit.
Brabec, who posted a personal-best fifth place in Saturday’s Compact, made her move approaching the 5km mark, opening up a five-second gap on the other three.
The 20-year-old American doubled that advantage over the next 1.2km, with Westvold Hansen in her sights up ahead. But the effort ultimately caught up with her as the fast-finishing Haruka Kasai caught Brabec in the closing stages to claim her fourth podium of the season after also finishing third in Saturday’s Compact.
But it was still a personal-best World Cup finish of fourth for Brabec, with Yuna Kasai taking fifth and Brocard in sixth.
Earlier on the HS109 hill, Maria Gerboth (GER) – the leader in the season’s Best Jumper standings with three wins so far – continued her consistent form with a 96.5m effort taking the lead with 98.1 points.
But with the final 10 enjoying the best of the conditions, there were a series of changes at the top, with Jenny Novak (GER, 95.0m), Brocard (95.5m), Brabec – with 98.5m, the longest jump of the morning - and Yuna Kasai (97.0m) all taking a brief turn in the leader’s chair.
Haruka Kasai (94.5m) couldn’t quite match her twin sister but Westvold Hansen, despite not being completely happy with her jump, took the lead with a 97.0m effort, giving her 114.3 when the points were carried over from Saturday’s Compact.
But Armbruster (above), starting with a 9.4 point advantage over Westvold Hansen, matched the Norwegian for distance with another 97.0m effort to take the lead on 127.6 points, giving her a commanding 53-second advantage heading into the cross-country which she never looked like losing.
"I am very impressed by Nathalie," Westvold Hansen said. "She is performing at a very high level and it is an exciting year for her."
Haruka Kasai, who remains third in the overall standings, just a point ahead of Wetvold Hansen, added: "These three days of racing were hard, but I'm glad we were able to have such exciting competition."
