Riiber’s World four-gold repeat quest continues on Trondheim large hill
Mar 04, 2025·Nordic Combined
Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) will continue his quest to win four gold medals for the second successive FIS World Nordic Ski Championship as the Nordic Combined program moves to the HS138 hill for the final two events in Trondheim this week.
Riiber’s ‘last dance’ at a major championship is halfway towards completion after he helped Norway defend their Mixed Team title and then pipped compatriot Jens Luraas Oftebro for gold in a scintillating Compact he labelled “the greatest day of his career”.
That was quite a statement for the five-time overall World Cup champion, who now has a record 10 World Championship gold medals for a Nordic Combined athlete among his tally of 13 overall.
One more medal of any colour in Sunday’s concluding Gundersen would see the 27-year-old go clear on his own for the most World individual medals with seven.
But before then Riiber will seek to help Norway maintain their dominance of the four-man Team event on Thursday, 6 March.
The Norwegians have prevailed at the last three World Championships, although the first two of those in 2019 and 2021 were on a normal hill before it was switched to the large hill in Planica two years ago. Norway also won the event at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Riiber and Joergen Graabak will be targeting their fourth straight Team gold at the Worlds, and Oftebro a third in a row, with Andreas Skoglund or Simen Tiller taking over from Espen Bjoernstad, who was part of the team in 2021 and 2023 (below) and the 2022 Olympics but not selected for Trondheim.
Germany, with Vinzenz Geiger, Julian Schmid and 13-time World Championship medallist Johannes Rydzek all in good form, are aiming to return to the top of the podium for the first time since the 2017 Worlds in the four-man Team event, having won silver at the last three editions as well as in Beijing.
The great Eric Frenzel (GER), who holds the Nordic Combined record for most World Championship medals overall with 18 – including 13 in Team events – was in all those four squads and is now part of the German coaching team in Trondheim.
Johannes Lamparter and Stefan Rettenegger will spearhead Austria’s attempt to improve on the bronze medal they have collected in the four-man competition at each of the last four World Championships.
“Our last Team title was in 2011, so it would be a dream to win the Team competition again,” said Austria head coach Christoph Bieler.
Japan, with Ryota Yamamoto and five-time World medallist Akito Watabe both in strong jumping form, could also contend for a medal, having won bronze in the large hill Team event at Beijing 2022.
France’s last 4x5km Team medal was a bronze in 2015, while Finland’s 2007 gold was the last time they were on the podium.
After competing on the HS138 hill (above, left) at the Granåsen Ski Centre, starting at 11:00 CET, each member of the quartet will complete 5km – two loops of the cross-country course – in a relay format from 15:00 CET.
The second men’s individual competition, a traditional Gundersen, on the large hill will conclude the Nordic Combined events on Saturday, 8 March, with the jumping starting at 09:30 CET and the 10km cross-country at 14:30.
Defending champion Riiber, in his final major championship event before retiring at the end of the season, will be desperate to say farewell with another gold but team-mate Oftebro will aim to go one better after taking silver on the large hill in Planica and being edged out again by Riiber in a thrilling Compact last Saturday.
Vinzenz Geiger, fresh from collecting his first individual World medal – a bronze – in the Compact, will also have designs on gold, having promised to “fight back” after Riiber and Oftebro won the late tactical battle in the Compact.
Lamparter, who beat Riiber to gold in the large hill Gundersen in Oberstdorf (GER) in 2021 (above) before taking bronze in Planica, will also not want to leave Trondheim without an individual medal after slipping back to fifth in a punishing finish to the Compact.
But after Japan’s Yuna Kasai earned a surprise gold in the first competition of these World Championships, the women’s Mass Start, Norway won the next three and the hosts will be favourites for more success in front of a vociferous home crowd in Trondheim.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) is aiming to win four gold medals – two individual, two team - for the second successive FIS World Nordic Ski Championship
Riiber already has a record 10 World Championship gold medals (five individual, five team) for a Nordic Combined athlete, among an overall tally of 13 including three silvers
Riiber and Joergen Graabak (NOR) will be targeting a fourth straight Team gold in the four-man competition at the Worlds, with Jens Luraas Oftebro (NOR) aiming for a third in a row
The men’s 4x5km Team event was held on the normal hill at the World Championships in 2019 (Seefeld) and 2021 (Oberstdorf) before it was switched to the large hill in Planica in 2023
Germany are aiming for their first gold in the four-man Team event since 2017, having won silver at the last three World Championships as well as the 2022 Winter Olympics
Austria have won bronze in the four-man competition at each of the last four World Championships. Their last gold was in 2011, when they were last held in Norway (Oslo)
If Jarl Magnus Riiber wins a medal in the concluding Gundersen, he will set a new record for a Nordic Combined athlete of seven individual World Championship medals
Johannes Lamparter (AUT) won World gold in the large hill Gundersen in Oberstdorf in 2021, beating Riiber, before taking bronze behind Riiber and Oftebro in Planica in 2023
)
