Trondheim 2025: Riiber’s final major rodeo looms in Nordic Combined World Champs
Feb 25, 2025·Nordic Combined
Riveting rivalries, rapturous receptions for home-grown heroes and record-breaking Jarl Magnus Riiber’s last major rodeo before retirement are all tantalizing prospects for Trondheim as the Norwegian city prepares to host a historic 2025 FIS World Nordic Ski Championship – the highlight of the Nordic Combined season.
The Granåsen Ski Centre, which previously hosted the event in 1997, will be the focal point again for cross-country duels and ski jumping jousts on the HS102 normal hill for four successive days from Thursday, 27 February, before two men’s competitions – one Team, one individual Gundersen - on the HS138 large hill next week.
The women will kick things off with their first Mass Start in a World Championships and finish with a Gundersen on Sunday, 2 March, while the men will compete in a Compact event for the first time at the biennial championships on Saturday.
The day before, on 28 February, hosts Norway will seek to defend the inaugural gold in the Mixed Team competition – a relay format featuring two men and two women from each country - they won in Planica (SLO) two years ago.
One of those men is likely to be Riiber (below), who won four gold medals in Slovenia to take his overall World Championship tally to 11 including eight golds – the most by any Nordic Combined athlete. While the great Eric Frenzel (GER) finished with 18 World Championship medals, only seven of them were gold.
Having recently announced he will be retiring at the end of the season, largely on health grounds after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, Riiber is aiming to add to his collection and surpass German Ronny Ackermann’s record of six individual World Championships medals (four gold, one silver and one bronze from 2001 to 2007) in Nordic Combined.
The 27-year-old already has four individual golds and a silver from the last three championships (his other six medals coming in Team events), with his first opportunity to draw level with Ackermann coming in Saturday’s Compact.
The five-time overall World Cup champion had to settle for second place behind in-form German rival Vinzenz Geiger in the final two events in Otepää (EST) recently and planned to use the two weeks prior to Trondheim to regain peak physical form.
As well as Geiger and compatriot Julian Schmid (GER), who took silver behind Riiber on the normal hill in Planica two years ago, Germany also have a World Championships specialist in veteran Johannes Rydzek.
The 33-year-old has 13 World medals including six gold – four in 2017 alone (below) - from his seven previous championships since 2011 and the same tally of individual medals (five) as Riiber.
While his peak years were a decade ago, he still won a World Cup Gundersen on the large hill in Ruka at the start of this season and clearly relishes the big occasions.
The Austrian challenge will be headed by Johannes Lamparter, whose six World Championship medals include an individual gold on the large hill in 2021, and the Rettenegger brothers, Stefan – who won two Team bronzes in 2023 - and Thomas.
“Our parents will be in Trondheim cheering us on,” added Stefan. “Hopefully we can both be at our best level and jump well, then much is possible.”
The last World Championships which saw medals in a Team event go to any country other than Norway, Germany or Austria was in 2017, when another set of brothers, Japan’s Akito and Yoshito Watabe, took bronze in the men’s Team sprint (below).
At 36, five-time World medallist Akito Watabe, who won a Team gold as far back as 2009 and also won individual medals in 2017, 2019 and 2021, still dreams of defying the odds again alongside brother Yoshito, 33, in Trondheim.
“It would be great if we could both win medals in the Team event again – the best way to make our families, friends, supporters and all those around us happy,” he said.
‘It will feel big, but that has to feel OK’
No competitors will be under more pressure and expectation to deliver on home snow than the Norwegians, however, with Jens Luraas Oftebro among those aiming for ultimate glory after individual bronze in 2021 and silver in 2023.
Head coach Jan Schmid, a seven-time World Championships medallist himself who won Team gold alongside Riiber and Trondheim local Jorgen Graabak in 2019, recalls the 2011 edition in Oslo, the last time Norway hosted the championships.
“It will feel big, but that has to feel OK,” Schmid said. “You have to prepare them for this being something they will remember for the rest of their lives.
“There will see people they know everywhere and there is a lot of stuff going on which can be difficult, but they just have to focus on the things they can do something about. I will remember 2011 forever and I am sure they will remember 2025 in the same way.”
Norway’s women’s team could also make it a spectacular week for the hosts, with Ida Marie Hagen eyeing her first individual World Championships medal after finishing fourth two years ago, before winning Mixed Team gold alongside Gyda Westvold Hansen, Riiber and Oftebro, ahead of Germany and Austria.
Westvold Hansen will be targeting a third straight individual gold medal in the Gundersen, having won the inaugural women’s individual event as an 18-year-old (below) in 2021 in Oberstdorf (GER), successfully defending her crown in Planica two years ago.
Since relinquishing her crown as queen of the sport to Hagen last season, Westvold Hansen has been rather overshadowed by her compatriot again this season.
Despite four podiums in the opening six events, she struggled with her jumping early on, but there were signs in Seefeld (AUT) recently that Westvold Hansen was improving on the hill, finishing second in all three competitions over the ‘Triple’ weekend.
Having opted to miss the last round of World Cup events in Otepää to focus on preparing for Trondheim, it will be intriguing to see how the two-time defending champion performs.
Hagen, in turn, will also be hugely motivated to reassert her dominance in front of her family, friends and fans, having seen what looked an inevitable second straight World Cup overall title unravel amid a series of setbacks in recent weeks.
After a disqualification for a jumping suit infringement in the second ‘Triple’ event in Seefeld ended her run of 11 straight wins, Hagen then saw Nathalie Armbruster (GER) overtake her in the standings when Hagen was also ruled out of the final ‘Triple’ event, which came with double points.
The 24-year-old then crash-landed on her jump in the Mass Start in Otepää to slip to a 15th-placed finish, increasing her overall deficit. While she bounced back with a Gundersen win the next day, Hagen was surprisingly beaten by Armbruster at the end of the Compact cross-country race, her first defeat in the tracks this season.
If Hagen is affected by any lingering doubts following recent events, overall World Cup leader Armbruster – who picked up silver medals in the individual and Mixed Team events as a 17-year-old in 2023 – appears best placed to take advantage.
The German, still only 19, claimed her first two individual World Cup wins in Hagen’s enforced absence in Seefeld and will have taken huge confidence from beating the Norwegian star to claim her third victory of the season in Otepää.
Armbruster’s consistency – she is ranked the fourth-best jumper and second-best skier this season – has given her a 102-point lead in the standings, but it is Haruka Kasai (JPN) who lies second, ahead of Hagen.
The 21-year-old will hope to improve on her individual Gundersen bronze from Planica two years ago, while twin sister Yuna Kasai (JPN) is the only woman other than Hagen or Armbruster to win a World Cup event – her first individual victory - this season.
It is entirely possible both sisters could feature on the podium, as they did together in Otepää (below).
If so, they could emulate sisters Mari and Marte Leinan Lund (NOR), who provided one of the enduring memories of the 2021 Championships when they finished second and third behind Westwold Hansen in an all-Norwegian podium in Oberstdorf (GER).
Unfortunately, Mari will not be joining younger sister Marte on the start line in Trondheim after suffering a setback in her recovery from a serious knee injury.
But the hosts should still have plenty to cheer as they look to top the Nordic Combined medal table for a fourth World Championships in a row.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Trondheim will host the FIS World Nordic Ski Championships for a second time, having previously hosted the event in 1997. The last time it was in Norway was in Oslo in 2011.
With the addition of a Mass Start, this will be the first time the women have had two individual competitions at the World Championships, as well as featuring in the Mixed Team event
Jarl Magnus Riiber won four golds in Planica (SLO) in 2023 to take his World Championship tally to eight golds – the most by any Nordic Combined athlete – and 11 World medals overall
Riiber has five individual World Championship medals (four golds, one silver) and will be trying to surpass the Nordic Combined record of six held by German Ronny Ackermann
The great Eric Frenzel (GER) also won five individual World medals (three gold, one silver, one bronze) and holds the Nordic Combined record for most overall with 18
Of those still competing, Johannes Rydzek (GER) has the most World medals with 13 including six gold – four in 2017 - from his seven previous championships. He has five individual medals
Gyda Westvold Hansen is the most decorated women Nordic Combiner at the Worlds since their first appearance in 2021 with three golds, including both individual events so far
Overall World Cup leader Nathalie Armbruster (GER) will be looking to add to the silver medals she won in the individual and Mixed Team events as a 17-year-old in 2023
Ida Marie Hagen (NOR) won the inaugural Mixed Team gold in 2023 with Westwold Hansen, Riiber and Jens Luraas Oftebro, but is eyeing a first World individual medal in Trondheim
The last World Championships which saw medals in a Team event go to any country other than Norway, Germany or Austria was in 2017, when Japan’s Akito and Yoshito Watabe took bronze in the men’s Team sprint on the large hill
Trondheim 2025 - Nordic Combined Program:
27 February
Women’s Mass Start NH - 14.30 and 17:00
28 February
Mixed Team NH – 12.00 and 16.05
1 March
Men's Compact NH – 12.00 and 16.00
2 March
Women’s Gundersen NH - 12.00 and 16.00
6 March
Men's Team LH – 11.00 and 15.00
8 March
Men’s Gundersen LH – 09.30 and 14.30
*all times in Central European Time (CET) and subject to change.
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