Frenzel takes the title on the large hill
© Nordic Focus
After the tremendous jump recorded in the morning, it looked like an easy task for Eric Frenzel (GER) to conquer his second World Championships title of the career. In reality, it was not so easy, also because the German decided indeed to push really hard on the ski-track of Lago di Fiemme as if his aim was to reach the finish line as fast as possible to start celebrating a well-deserved gold medal. Without any problems or troubles, the German succeeded in his mission and in the end he really proved that he is the best Nordic Combined athlete in the World, dominating a race that saw him in first position from the start to the finish line.
In a thrilling sprint for the podium, Bernhard Gruber (AUT) exploited all his experience and tactical wisdom to climb on the second step of the podium, while Jason Lamy Chappuis (FRA) conquered his third medal on three races with a lightning final sprint that put Akito Watabe (JPN) off the podium.
Earlier in the day, the race started with a ski-jumping event that probably featured the best ski-jumping session ever recorded in a HS134/10 km Gundersen race, with results that even the best jumpers in the World could envy.
In the end, the best jump of the day was the masterpiece set by Eric Frenzel, who showed a 138.5 meters jump on a HS134 hill: a gold-medal result even in a ski-jumping race. Right behind the German, Cristoph Bieler (AUT) took the second place with 135.5 meters, while Yoshito Watabe took the third position with a very good jump during very tricky wind conditions.
The ski jumping session was characterized by changing wind conditions which of course influenced the performances of the athletes. Nevertheless, thanks to the decisions of the jury and the wind compensation system, the race was quite fair and every athlete had the chance to perform at best on the large hill of Predazzo. The first one who was able to exploit at best the favourable wind conditions was Haavard Klemetsen (NOR), followed few minutes later by Marjan Jelenko (SLO) and Cristoph Bieler (AUT) who showed one of the best performances with 135.5 meters, a distance "tied" also by the other Austrian, Wilhelm Denifl. Also the best skiers and “worse” jumpers were able to do very well thanks to the good wind conditions and Mikko Kokslien (NOR) landed at 126 meters, while his team-mate Magnus Moan did even better and landed at 134.5 meters. Akito Watabe (JPN) signed a 136 meters jump and closed at short distance from the leaders, while Jason Lamy Chappuis jumped "only" 126.5 meters, but starting from a lower gate compared to the others.
After the tremendous jump recorded in the morning, Eric Frenzel started the 10 km cross-country event in a comfortable first position, having therefore the chance to control the race and just focus on his pace to bring home his first World Champion title on a large hill/10 km Gundersen format. Nevertheless, the German didn’t take it so easily on the difficult track of Lago di Tesero and skied very fast, building an advantage that kept getting bigger and bigger lap after lap. Behind him, a group of 11 athletes packed up in the “chasing group” of the day, starting an exciting battle for the medals that featured the greatest emotions of the entire race.
Magnus Moan and Jason Lamy Chappuis were the most active athletes of this group, taking turns on the front to keep a steady and high pace. On the last lap, the first move was made by Hideaki Nagai (JPN) who attacked on the second-last climb of the course. Then, while Frenzel was already parading on the final straight leading to the finish line, Bernhard Gruber broke the ice and overtook the Japanese, taking with him Akito Watabe and the fast Jason Lamy Chappuis. The three engaged then in a sprint that saw Lamy Chappuis starting few meters behind the others, and despite the “bad” position, the Frenchman increased the frequencies and overtook at double speed Watabe, while Gruber succeeded in keeping his silver medal and defend it from the attack of a Chappuis that seems always ready to place the right kneeling under the finish line.
With his success, Eric Frenzel moves the medal table and brings Germany near to Japan and Switzerland, giving the most precious medal of all to a country that has always boosted many champions in its history.
You can find the full result list here.
The next and last Nordic Combined competition in the Team Sprint on Saturday.
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Dans le Val di Fiemme (région du Trentin-Haut-Adige en Italie), l'Allemand Eric Frenzel devient champion du monde de combiné nordique sur grand tremplin.Après avoir établi le record du tremplin lors de l'épreuve de saut, il mène la course seul, de bout en bout, et s'impose devant l'Autrichien Bernhard Gruber et le Français Jason Lamy-Chappuis.
L'épreuve de saut a eu lieu sur le tremplin Giuseppe dal Ben de Predazzo. La course de fond a eu lieu sur le site de Lago di Tesero.