Team Austria takes gold in JWSC Men’s Team Event
Mar 08, 2020·Nordic Combined
A nearly flawless performance had the Austrian team surge to the gold medal at the final day of the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Oberwiesenthal (GER). Stefan and Thomas Rettenegger, Johannes Lamparter and Fabio Obermeyr took a clear win, +35.9 seconds ahead of Team France. Team Norway claimed bronze, +38.2 seconds after the winners.
Already during the jumping round, the Austrians were able to show some great performances. Youth Olympic Champion Stefan Rettenegger laid the foundation with a jump on 94 metres (125.0 p.), winning the first group of jumpers. His brother Thomas Rettenegger (98.5 metres, 123.8 p.), Fabio Obermeyr (92.5 metres, 114.6 p.) and Johannes Lamparter (97 metres, 130.0 p.) also never the let go of the spot on the top.
Behind the Austrians however, the competition was intense due to very difficult wind conditions. The Norwegians went into the competition as one of the favorites but were not quite able to show their best jumps altogether and ended up on fourth place after the jumping round +0:53 behind the leading Austrians.
The French team with Edgar Vallet (90 metres, 112.9p.), Mael Tyrode (87.5 metres, 110.8 p.) and bronze medalist in the individual competition Gael Blondeau (93.5 metres, 117.1) showed some solid performances but it was their final man, Matteo Baud, who secured the second place for his team with a great jump to 99.5 metres (137.0 p.) in very difficult wind conditions.
Third place after jumping went to the team from Finland with Waltteri Karhumaa (94.5 metres, 113.5 p.), Wille Karhumaa (85.5 metres, 105.4 p.), Perttu Reponen (93 metres, 110.4 p.) and Otto Niittykoski (98.5 metres, 133 p.).
Poland with Mateusz Jarosz, Bartlomiej Klimowski, Andrzej Szczechowicz and Piotr Kudzia were a surprise in fifth, sixth after jumping was Japan with Shogo Azegami, Yuya Yamamoto, Daimatsu Takehana and Kodai Kimura.
Austria skied a tactically smart and steady race at the head of the field and did not let the pursuers get closer. Stefan Rettenegger kept the gap to the pursuing French team around 20 seconds on his leg of the race, while Thomas Rettenegger exchanged with an advantage of 38.9 and even 53.1 seconds respectively. While Gael Blondeau gained ground on Fabio Obermeyr on the last leg of the race, the pursuers were not able to reduce to gap to less than 35.9 seconds.
While the gold medal winners were clear throughout the race, the silver and bronze medals were hard fought for. France managed to keep their second place at first but Matteo Baud was finally caught by a fast-approaching David Mach on the third leg of the race. Mach hat taken over from Luis Lehnert in position five and skied a very strong race with the fastest skiing time of all athletes: he needed 11:24.6 to complete his 5 km of the race.
While France and Germany were together, a little over 20 seconds separated them from the pursuers from Finland and Norway at the start of the last lap of the race. Poland and Japan had already lost contact to the other skiers earlier. Andreas Skoglund and Otto Niittykoski for Norway and Finland made up some time again on Germany’s Christian Frank and France’s Gael Blondeau, so that four teams were fighting for two medals at the beginning of the last lap.
Niittykoski was the first one to have to concede defeat and ultimately, also Frank was not able to follow Blondeau and Skoglund anymore on the last climb into the stadium. Like on the way to his individual bronze medal, Blondeau displayed some excellent sprinting skills on the final stretch and Andreas Skoglund knew already halfway through the sprint that he would not succeed. The French team was overjoyed with the silver medal, while Norway had to be content with bronze.
Germany finished fourth, Finland was fifth, Japan sixth, Poland seventh, Slovenia eighth, Italy ninth and the Czech Republic claimed the tenth place in the final result.
