Germany’s best Nordic combined athlete, Nathalie Armbruster, experienced a physical collapse at the World Cup in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria. She lay in the snow for several seconds, was overtaken by her competitors, got up and ran to the finish. “The body closed everything down. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t walk anymore, I couldn’t take another step. I kind of collapsed and thought to myself, that was the end,” she said.
The 19-year-old had set too high a pace in the mass start race and apparently suffered circulatory problems. Two hours later she went on the jump, jumped 84.0 meters and secured twelfth place. She said tearfully about her difficult final sprint on the cross-country ski trail: “Then I lay there – and lay there. Then I stood up again and continued running, no longer fast. But at least I reached the finish.”
The day’s victory went to the Norwegian Ida Marie Hagen. In the men’s category, Julian Schmid was the best German in sixth place, the Austrian Thomas Rettenegger won.
