Nathalie Armbruster raised both arms in celebration and ran through the finish area in Planica with a big grin. The 17-year-old student crowned her outstanding debut season at the World Championships in Planica with another flawless performance and brought the German Ski Association (DSV) the first medal for a combined athlete in international title fights.
“At the moment I have no words, it’s so unbelievable, I’m almost starting to cry again,” said Armbruster on ZDF shortly after her silver showdown. After seven podium finishes in nine World Cup races in the north-west of Slovenia, the Armbruster, ennobled by national coach Florian Aichinger as a “stroke of luck”, set the next big exclamation point this winter. Norway’s long-term winner Gyda Westvold Hansen secured gold, while Haruka Kasai from Japan took bronze.
Armbruster showed a tactical masterstroke on Thursday. “I tried to run calmly at the beginning so that I still had enough grains at the end,” said the woman from the Black Forest, “in the meantime I really didn’t have any strength left.” A “second breath” on the last mountain finally carried her to silver: “Then it just took off.”
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Armbruster had already demonstrated her outstanding form from the hill: With 98.0 meters she jumped further than almost all of the competition and only had to admit defeat to Westvold Hansen, who sailed to 91.0 meters with a shorter inrun and significantly worse wind.
National coach Aichinger was “really proud” of his team after the jump. All four German starters were among the top ten. In the end, Maria Gerboth (Schmiedefeld) finished ninth as the second best German behind Armbruster. The former Junior World Champion Jenny Nowak (Sohland) and Svenja Würth (Baiersbronn) rounded off the strong DSV result in eleventh and 13th place.
Westvold Hansen, who is also only 20 years old, did not show any weaknesses in her role as the top favourite. After nine victories from nine World Cup races, the dominator of the winter took first place in Planica and successfully defended her title. Westvold Hansen, who made history two years ago in Oberstdorf as the first combined world champion, remains the measure of all things in the young history of women’s combined.
Before the women continue, the first men’s competition on the normal hill is on the program on Saturday (10:00 a.m. jumping/3:30 p.m. cross-country skiing/ZDF and Eurosport). On Sunday (10:30 a.m. jumping/3:00 p.m. cross-country skiing/ZDF and Eurosport) both start in the mixed-team competition, which was held for the first time at a World Championship – to Armbruster’s delight. “I’m really happy that I can start in the mixed team,” she said, “this is a very special competition.”
