COC: Germany wins Mixed Team Sprint premiere

Sophia Maurus and Jakob Lange are the first Mixed Team Sprint winners, after claiming the victory in Eisenerz (AUT) today.

20 teams from 10 nations were on start for the premiere of the Mixed Team Sprint in the Continental Cup, after the new format was firstly tested in Oberwiesenthal (GER) during the FIS Summer Grand Prix 2023.

Team Japan 1 was in the lead after the Ski Jumping competition on the HS 109, with Jui Yamazaki (96 m) and Kyotaro Yamazaki (97 m) collecting a total of 220.5 points. 
They were therefore the first team to start into the 2x6km race, in rainy Eisenerz.

Rank 2 after jumping went to Team German 1 with Sophia Maurus (90 m) and Jakob Lange (100.5 m), who reached the furthest distance of the day. They collected 208.8 points and went into the course 16 seconds after the Japanese. 
Team Slovenia with Silva Verbic (90 m) and Vid Vrhovnik (97.5 m) placed third, 17 seconds behind the leaders.

Despite their lead, the Japanese were unable to defend their top position for long against the strong skiers from Germany and fell behind.

The Slovenians also couldn't keep up with the high pace, fell back and stepped out of the competition.

Meanwhile, Team Austria 1, which was in 7th place after jumping, showed a fantastic comeback. The previous day's winner Mario Seidl and Laura Pletz fought their way further forward lap after lap, closely followed by Team Germany 2.

Simon Mach and Marie Nähring demonstrated their strong cross-country form and fought their way up from 6th place after jumping to the podium.

While Sophia Maurus confidently brought home the victory for Germany 1, Pletz (+41.1 sec) defended second place for Austria 1 against Nähring (+43.3 sec), who secured third place for Germany 2.

SJ Results: TS HS109/2x6km, Mixed - 17.2.24, Eisenerz
Official Results: TS HS109/2x6km, Mixed - 17.2.24, Eisenerz