TESERO, Italy, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro outlasted World Cup leader Johannes Lamparter of Austria to win gold in the men's normal hill nordic combined on Wednesday at the Milan-Cortina 2026.
Oftebro, who finished seventh in the ski jumping portion, delivered a strong race over the 10-kilometer cross-country course. He pulled away from Lamparter, who had raced closely with him during the latter stage of the race, to cross the line in 29 minutes 59.4 seconds.
Lamparter settled for the silver with one second behind, while Eero Hirvonen of Finland took the bronze in 30:01.9.
"It's an amazing feeling," said Oftebro. "I almost crashed in the third loop, where there was so much happening, so I felt pretty OK and was happy that I could get a gap in the last climb so I could reach the finish line first."
He also mentioned that the course conditions were extremely challenging, saying: "We spent almost half an hour on the course. I'd done a good job with the jumping, but it was incredibly heavy out there. The more you go on the snow, the deeper down in it you get. It was tricky to get the pace up, and I am very pleased to end up with the gold. I'm super proud of myself."
Nordic combined merges ski jumping and cross-country skiing into one event, with athletes' jumping scores determining their staggered start times for the cross-country portion. ■
