COC-M/L: Jöbstl and Geraghty-Moats prevail in Mass Start
Mar 09, 2019·Nordic Combined
Tara Geraghty-Moats was the fastest athlete in the Ladies’ Mass Start race and completed the 5 km course in 13:40. Russia’s Anastasia Goncharova claimed the second position before the jumping event by finishing 56 seconds after the American, which translated into a 14-point handicap for the jumping event. Hanna Midtsundstad was third, one minute and 17 seconds after Geraghty-Moats and only one second later, Germany’s Jenny Nowak. From fifth-placed Lisa Hirner to 17th placed Sophia Maurus, all athletes finished close together between +1:24 and +2:08.
With also the best jump of the day, there was never any doubt about Geraghty-Moats winning streak of nine events and counting. 85 metres and 107 points catapulted the American to her next win, a whopping 24.8 points ahead of runner-up Jenny Nowak (GER), who improved from position four to two with her 91.5 metre ski jump. Gyda Westvold Hansen, only twelvth after the cross-country race, made good use of the close distances between the athletes to jump on to the podium with a 84 metre ski jump. 104.5 points from the jump minus her 27.2 point handicap from the cross-country race meant a final score of 76.9 points, two points ahead of Italy's Veronica Gianmoena, who claimed position four. Lisa Hirner was fifth, Maria Gerboth finished sixth.
Thomas Jöbstl was the fastest athlete on the men’s side and completed the 10 km race in 23:25. In a contested race, Norway’s Lars Buraas finished only one second later (-0.2 points for the jumping event), same as Italy’s Raffele Buzzi. German Jakob Lange came into the finish 17 seconds after the winner and collected -4.2 points for the jumping event.
After one ski jump, it was cross-country winner Thomas Jöbstl, who prevailed. 91 metres and the sixth best ski jump of the round were enough to give Jöbstl 106.6 points and the victory in the end. Germany’s Jakob Lange needed 84.5 metres to jump to the second position in the end and Japan’s Hidefumi Denda claimed the third place with the fourth best jump of 88.5 metres and a point total of 91.1. The best jump of the day was made by Denda’s teammate Daimatsu Takehana, who showed 86 metres and earned 118.1 points with his jump. Together with his distadvantage of -30.7 points from the cross-country race, Takehana finished the event on rank ten.
