Norway retain Mixed Team title to claim hosts' first Nordic Combined gold

Hosts Norway celebrated their first Nordic Combined gold medal of the 2025 FIS World Nordic Ski Championships as Gyda Westvold Hansen, Jarl Magnus Riiber, Ida Marie Hagen and Jens Luraas Oftebro enjoyed a crushing Mixed Team victory in Trondheim.

The favourites started the cross-country relay format with a 14-second lead over Japan after strong performances from all four on the jumping hill and 28 seconds ahead of Germany, with Austria 45 seconds back in the medal battle.

But Oftebro, the strongest skier in the tracks during the World Cup season, extended Norway’s advantage to 43 seconds after the opening leg before the first exchange to Westvold Hansen, who increased it further to more than a minute by the halfway point.

Hagen maintained the hosts’ strong pace on the third leg to hand the great Riiber, who is competing in his final major championships before retiring at the end of the season, a lead of 1:15.6 over Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger for the final 5km leg.

The five-time overall World Cup champion was able to cruise round enjoying the acclaim of the fans, taking a Norwegian flag from the crowd in the finish straight as his three team-mates all bowed in mock homage to arguably the greatest Nordic Combiner of all time.

It was Riiber’s ninth World Championship gold medal, and 12^th in all, with the quartet retaining the title they won in the inaugural staging of the event at Planica in 2023.

Hagen added: “I was so nervous today because I wanted it to be perfect for Jarl. Of course I wanted to win but it was more important because it was our last team event with Jarl.”

The German quartet of Nathalie Armbruster, Vinzenz Geiger, Jenny Nowak and Julian Schmid again had to settle for silver, as they did two years ago.

“I think the silver medal is well deserved,” said Armbruster. “The Norwegians were so strong on the hill, but we are so happy with silver.”

Austria pip Japan in dramatic bronze battle - on and off snow

Austrian held on to bronze – replicating the podium from Planica – but only after a lengthy jury review following a protest from Japan, who lost out for the final medal in a sprint finish.

It appeared Austria’s Johannes Lamparter, who pipped Ryoto Yamamoto in a thrilling sprint finish, had cut across Yamamoto’s path at the start of the final straight as their skis briefly clashed.

But after more than 50 minutes of deliberations, ultimately the jury decided in Lamparter’s favour as he, Stefan Rettenegger, Lisa Hirner and Claudia Purker claimed bronze.

Earlier, for much of the ski jumping competition on the HS 102 hill, it appeared Japan would take a lead into the cross-country.

The format saw one woman from each of the 10 teams go in the first round of jumpers, followed by two rounds of men’s competitors before a final round of 10 women.

Haruka Kasai’s 100.0-meter jump in the opening round earned 118.5 points, which proved to be the highest tally of any of the women, with Ida Marie Hagen bouncing back well from her disappointing Mass Start with a 95.0m effort for 105.5 points, the fourth best of the women.

“I felt way better today,” Hagen said. “I have some super good team-mates who were cheering me up from yesterday and some really smart coaches giving me tips so I had more confidence and belief in myself.”

But Yamamoto’s sensationally smooth 106.0m jump (above) – replete with a perfect Telemark landing - yielded two 19.5 scores from the judges and 133.9 points to extend Japan’s advantage in the second round.

While Oftebro’s 117.7 points from a 99.5m effort kept Norway in touch, Geiger’s 102.5m jump earned 121.2 points for Germany to drop the hosts to third at the halfway stage.

Enter Riiber. Dropping down one start gate, the five-time overall World Cup champion soared out to 107.0m – the longest jump of the day – with an aggressive, perfectly-flighted effort to score 133.1 points and close the gap to Japan, for whom veteran Akito Watabe earned 109.2 points from a 98.5m jump.

Schmid’s 103.5m jump for 122.2 points was the third best of the men, but in the final round Armbruster could only manage 95.3 points for Germany from a 93.5m jump, while Thursday’s individual gold medallist Yuna Kasai’s timing faltered slightly despite a 94.5m jump for 96.7 points.

By contrast, despite changing conditions and an increasing wind, Westvold Hansen (below) delivered a superb 102.0-meter jump - the joint-longest of the women alongside USA’s Alexa Brabec – for 115.6 points, punching the air in celebration as the crowd roared its appreciation.

"We were all performing at a very high level from the beginning today," said Westvold Hansen, who picked up her fifth World medal and fourth gold.

That left Norway with a total of 471.9 points on the hill, which converted into a 14-second lead heading into the cross-country over Japan, on 458.3 points, and a 28-second advantage over Germany on 443.9.

Austria, despite Hirner’s 105.0 points from a 96.5m jump and the strength of Lamparter and Rettenegger in the tracks, faced an uphill battle for a medal after starting the cross-country in fourth with a 45-second deficit on Norway, 31 seconds behind Japan and 17 adrift of Germany.  

Oftebro sets blistering CC pace

With the weather deteriorating, the cross-country began amid wet, cold conditions as Oftebro set off first with the men skiing two laps of the 2.5km loop and the women only one in the relay format.

He extended Norway’s 14-second lead to almost 30 seconds inside the first 1.2km and 43 by the halfway point, with Schmid quickly catching Watabe in second and Rettenegger pushing hard behind to close the gap before his efforts caught up with him.

Oftebro (above) maintained his strong pace to hand a 43-second advantage to Westvold Hansen over Nowak on the second leg despite Schmid’s efforts, with Japan still around eight seconds ahead of Austria as Watabe handed over to Yuna Kasai.

Kasai fell forwards in softer snow to lose some vital seconds as Purker briefly closed the gap in the battle for bronze, only to then fall herself just before her exchange to Hirner, leaving Austria 17 seconds behind Japan after two of the four legs.

Westvold Hansen increased Norway’s lead to over a minute before handing over to Hagen, with Yuna Kasai closing to within 16 seconds of Germany’s Novak.   

Her sister Haruka Kasai ate further into that lead on the third leg as the battle for silver intensified, Armbruster holding off the Japanese’s charge to give Geiger a five-second cushion over Yamamoto, who in turn started with a 27-second lead over Lamparter in the race for bronze.

The Austrian cut that gap to 10 seconds after the first 2.5km and had closed it by 3.7m, but Yamamoto refused to give up and doggedly stuck behind Lamparter for the closing kilometer before his brave final assault on a medal ultimately fell short.

Lasse Ottesen, the FIS race director, explained that Lamparter’s move was “on the limit” of what was allowed but ultimately not sufficient to change the original result.

“It was a very difficult decision,” he explained. “The jury needed a lot of time and had to go through all the rules and small-print. It took too much time but in the end, I think the decision is correct.

“It was found that Lamparter moved too much, but in this case not enough to be obstructing Japan, and Japan [Yamamoto] was also involved in the obstruction himself, more than he could have been. Therefore the jury decided to let the result stand.”

Click here for full results from the Mixed Team event.