Riiber leaves it late to defend world title

Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber secured a second successive Nordic combined normal hill/10km world gold thanks to a final bend push at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. The victory saw Riiber become the third Norwegian Nordic combined athlete to win at least three World Championship gold medals, after Bjarte Engen Vik and Fred Borre Lundberg, having previously won this race in 2019 as well as the team normal hill race at the same championships. Japan's Ryota Yamamoto recorded the longest ski jump to top the standings heading in to the 10km cross-country race, but his challenge faded as the stronger skiers raced clear. World Cup leader Riiber was almost at the front of this pack, as he stalked Finland's Ilkka Herola all the way through the race, before he launched a late dive around the outside of the final bend to claim victory. Riiber won in a time of 23:01.2, just four tenths clear of Herola while his countryman Jens Luraas Oftebro completed a tight podium just nine tenths back in bronze.

Sportsbeat 2021