Hagen cruises to Gundersen win in Otepää to close on record
Jan 10, 2026·Nordic Combined
Ida Marie Hagen moved to within one win of fellow Norwegian Gyda Westwold Hansen’s all-time record as she extended her overall lead in the Viessmann FIS women’s Nordic Combined World Cup with victory in Saturday’s Gundersen in Otepää.
The 25-year-old, who also won Friday’s Mass Start, again showed her dominance in the cross-country tracks after the ski jumping was cancelled for a second day running in challenging wind conditions.
Hagen started 1:12 behind 18-year-old compatriot Ingrid Laate (NOR), who had won Thursday’s first PCR with a huge 102.0-meter jump – 8m further than anyone else – for 134.2 points.
But Hagen wasted no time eating into Laate’s lead, taking 35 seconds on the first kilometer and closing to within five seconds by the end of the first lap.
She swiftly moved past her compatriot early on the second lap and proceeded to storm away from the field, building a 25-second lead at halfway and 51 seconds over Laate by 4km, before eventually winning the 6km race in 19:46.1, one minute and 21 seconds clear of the rest.
There was an intense battle for the podium behind Hagen though, with Alexa Brabec (USA) moving up to fourth behind Minja Korhonen (FIN) and Yuna Kasai (JPN) joining them in the race to catch Laate.
The exhausted teenager was eventually overhauled in the final kilometer as Kasai timed her sprint to perfection to take her first World Cup podium of the season - and fifth overall - ahead of Korhonen, who followed her second place on Friday with third.
“I think being in the Ski Jumping World Cup has improved my skills and maybe given me a bit more confidence on the hill,” said the 18-year-old Finn after her third podium in the last four competitions.
“It was another great day, even though I felt pretty stiff in the last kilometer. I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out at the finish but I was still on the podium and close to second, so I am very happy with my performance.”
Brabec took fourth for the second day in a row, with Laate eventually finishing fifth.
Hagen now leads the overall standings by 120 points from Brabec, with defending champion Nathalie Armbruster (GER) 171 points behind and Korhonen 171 in fourth.
Earlier, after the men’s ski jumping was cancelled, a small weather window opened up for officials to briefly start the women’s competition on the Tehvandi HS97 hill.
But only the first athlete, Maja Loh (GER), was able to head down the ramp before the wind speed went over the limit and with no prospect of the conditions relenting, the jury was forced to cancel the jumping again.
That meant 18-year-old Laate, the outstanding jumper in the women’s field, started with a 1:12 advantage for the cross-country.
But with a 6km race in the tracks – three laps of the 2km course, 1km longer than the usual distance for the women – that lead was never going to be enough with Hagen starting second after her 94.0m jump for 116.1 points in the PCR.
Korhonen (92.5m for 110.9 points) started third, 1:33 behind, with the likes of Kasai, 1:52 back in sixth and Brabec (2:01 behind in seventh) looking to get in the podium shake-up.
Armbruster (GER) started 11th, 2:16 behind Laate and over a minute behind Hagen, but despite a strong start could only lift herself to seventh, behind Katharina Gruber (AUT) in sixth.
On the final day of events in Otepää on Sunday, the women will compete in a Compact, with the jumping scheduled for 11:30 CET and the 5km cross-country at 15:00.
