Only one Norwegian was better: Nathalie Armbruster drove ahead of her competitors and won silver, the first World Championship medal by a German combined athlete.
Photo: image/Eibner
Before this World Championship decision in Planica, all Nordic athletes formed an X with their ski poles in the air as a protest against the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It stands for »no eXception«, i.e. »no exception«. Because of all things, the supreme discipline in winter sports is the only sport in which there are no competitions for women at the Olympics. With an exciting and high-class competition this Friday, the combined athletes made the best advertisement that this is about to change.
This was especially true for the exceptional phenomenon Nathalie Armbruster. The 17-year-old eleventh-grader from the Kepler-Gymnasium Freudenstadt stormed with a tactical masterpiece to silver in the individual competition. In her first World Championship race, she also wrote history with the first World Championship medal for a German combined athlete. »So awesome and so incredible. I’m about to cry,” said the overjoyed teenage girl with the thick braid. »In between, I didn’t have any strength left when I was cross-country skiing. But then I got my second breath and it went off.«
With a beaming smile, she stormed the finish line as the silver medalist, just 11.5 seconds behind dominator Gyda Westvold Hansen. The Norwegian, unbeaten this winter, had already triumphed at the World Cup premiere two years ago in Oberstdorf. Back then, competing at the top was purely a Norwegian affair, but this time the women showed that the sport has evolved tremendously. Haruka Kasai from Japan won bronze, four different nations were among the top six.
The numerous fans in five-kilometer cross-country skiing – including ski jumping world champion Katharina Althaus and many other German World Cup starters – experienced a dramatic race with Armbruster as the main actress. After the day’s best distance of 98 meters on the hill, the teenager started second, 20 seconds behind Hansen. She ran a lonely race at the front, behind her a larger group formed around the young German. Halfway through the race, the strongest Norwegian, Ida Marie Hagen, caught up from behind and initially stormed away. But Armbruster kept eye contact with incredible cleverness, and as Hagen’s strength faltered, she swept past the final big climb to take the historic silver medal.
Armbruster’s parents, home trainer Tino Uhlig and fans from their homeland cheered in disbelief in the finish area. “I could never have done it without my family. And also a huge thank you to the team – we grew together incredibly well,” said Armbruster. Certainly also because of the fight for equality in their sport at the Olympics. As a symbol, the 17-year-old carried the German flag together with Olympic champion Vinzenz Geiger at the opening ceremony of this World Cup.
»The IOC’s decision against our Olympic admission was a slap in the face, a childhood dream died. This makes me incredibly angry. It’s not about sport, it’s just about money and ratings,” Armbruster had grumbled before her World Cup premiere. She promotes her sport in numerous interviews and on her social media channels with fresh and direct words: “I’m a very fair-loving person and that goes against the grain for me. I’m fighting for the combination to be included in the 2030 Olympics for both men and women.«
This clarity of statements is remarkable for a 17-year-old. But Armbruster is an exceptional young woman in every respect and is already the biggest advertising figure for her sport. This also impresses her teammate Svenja Würth, who, as ski jumping world champion, once switched to Nordic combined in order to fulfill her dream of the Olympics after many injuries. This wish can probably no longer be realized for the 29-year-old, the frustration with the IOC is huge. The rulers of Olympus would pat themselves on the back on issues such as sustainability and gender equality, but the reality would be very different. »Olympia isn’t what it used to be. I haven’t seen anyone from the IOC in our sport. The officials have no contact with the athletes. I hope Mr Bach will show up at the World Cup.«
On Friday he could have witnessed how exciting the combined competitions, which according to the IOC were not sufficiently attractive, had become. And there are protagonists like Armbruster, whose charisma not only inspires the entire German World Cup team. The teenager, who recently became German Junior Champion in ski jumping in passing, so to speak, wants to keep fighting until her traditional sport is saved: »The option of changing sports does not exist for me. I love the combination of jumping and cross-country skiing far too much for that.«
Only accepted into the national team last spring, the newcomer made it to third place at the World Cup opener in Lillehammer, the historic first podium finish for a German winter duel. One of the numerous other podium finishes this winter was one at the home World Cup in Schonach.
“Maybe 15 teachers, the director and an endless number of friends” from their school were enthusiastic spectators at the Armbruster route. The eleventh grader is the undisputed star of her school, especially since the half-year report showed an average of 1.0 despite the “incredible double burden” and gigantic absenteeism. It’s vacation time now and before he goes back to school, Armbruster wants to win another World Championship medal in the mixed competition on Sunday: “You can share your feelings particularly well in a team. And besides, the mixed competition is a strong sign of equality.«
