Hagen wins again in wind-affected Mass Start in Otepää
Jan 09, 2026·Nordic Combined
Ida Marie Hagen’s dominant cross-country form earned her a fourth win in five events in this season’s Viessmann FIS women’s Nordic Combined World Cup after a wind-affected Mass Start in Otepää, Estonia, which saw the cancellation of the ski jumping.
The Norwegian star won a shortened 4km cross-country race by 16.8 seconds from defending overall champion Nathalie Armbruster (GER).
But with the wind whistling up to seven meters per second, the jury decided jumping was too dangerous, meaning the results from Friday’s PCR competition were used instead.
Hagen’s 88-meter jump on the Tehvandi hill was good enough to earn her 101.0 points, pipping Finnish teenager Minja Korhonen, who had finished seventh in the cross-country but a 92.0m jump on Friday lifted her to a best-ever second place on 99.8 points, with Armbruster taking her fourth podium of the season in third on 97.9.
It was Hagen’s 21st individual World Cup win, closing to within two of compatriot Gyda Westvold Hansen’s all-time record of 23, and extended her lead in the overall standings as she seeks to regain the Crystal Glove she won in 2023-24.
“It was a really positive day,” said the 25-year-old. “It was cool to do a different race – 4km – that we don’t normally do, on another track. I am excited for tomorrow. Hopefully there will be some jumping.”
Korhonen, 18, showed further signs of her continued development as she added another podium to her third place in Ramsau before Christmas.
Armbruster (below) also declared herself “super happy” with third place in a Mass Start format she admits is “not my favourite”.
“I did a great race – just 16 seconds behind Ida, which was pretty good," she said. "In the end it was so close between Minja and me but she did the better jump yesterday, so I am still really glad for third position.”
Alex Brabec (USA) maintained her fine start to the season with a fifth successive top-four finish, while Norwegian 18-year-old Ingrid Laate, the best jumper of the season, lifted herself to fifth place overall after winning the PCR with a 94.5m jump on Friday, despite finishing 31st of 33 athletes in the cross-country, 1:08.1 back.
Earlier, in cold, windy conditions on a shortened 4km cross-country course, Hagen hit the front from the start and was never led in another commanding display.
Armbruster remained close behind for the first 2km loop, with American Tara Geraghty-Moats - winner of the first ever women’s World Cup event in 2020 and competing in only her third Nordic Combined World Cup competition since after returning from biathlon - up in third for the first half of the race.
But Hagen put the hammer down in the third kilometer, stretching her lead over Armbruster to nearly 10 seconds and pushing on in the final kilometer to win in 10:50.9, 16.8 seconds clear of Armbruster, giving her a lead of 5.6 points heading to the hill.
“Of course it was a bit cold but we like it when it is more winter vibes,” Hagen said after another victory in the tracks. “I felt really good so it was a cool race.”
Compatriot Marte Leinan Lund (NOR) finished strongly to take third place in the tracks - good enough for seventh overall - ahead of Brabec (USA) and Ema Volavsek (SLO), with Geraghty-Moats dropping to sixth, 42.5 seconds back alongside Korhonen, a deficit of 14.2 points which ultimately left her 22nd overall.
On the second day of competition in Otepää on Saturday, the women will tackle a Gundersen, with the jumping - wind permitting - scheduled to start at 10:45 CET and the cross-country at 13:30, before a Compact on Sunday.
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