Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro overcomes time deficit to win gold in Nordic combined

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TESERO, Italy (AP) — Jens Luraas Oftebro of Norway overcame a 28-second time disadvantage to chase down a pack of skiers, narrowly avoided a costly crash and then slugged it out uphill in deep, slushy snow to hold off his chief rival to win the gold medal in the Nordic combined normal hill competition.

“It was insanely tough out there,” said Oftebro, who collapsed in the snow after crossing the finish line. “The more you go on the snow, the deeper down in it you get. It was tricky to get the pace up and I am very pleased to end up with the gold. I’m super proud of myself.”

Johannes Lamparter of Austria won silver, 1 second behind, and Eero Hirvonen of Finland took bronze, 2.5 seconds back.

The unique format of the contest starts with a single ski jump in the morning where the distance and scoring on style points are converted to a time deficit behind the leader for a staggered start cross-country race in the afternoon.

Nordic combined, which has been contested in every Winter Olympics since their start in 1924 and is the only event in the Games that excludes women, is facing possible extinction from the International Olympic Committee because it draws a small TV audience and a few nations dominate competition.

The IOC is due to make its decision later this year.

Lamparter entered the contest as the top-ranked skier, followed by Oftebro and Julian Schmid of Germany.

The top of the field included two sets of brothers, including Oftebro's sibling, Einar Luraas Oftebro — the two are called the “Oftebrothers” — and Austria's Stefan and Thomas Rettenegger.

Kristjan Ilves of Estonia, though, got the head start in the ski race after landing the best jump at 99 meters. Thomas Rettenegger started 15 second behind him and Ryota Yamamoto of Japan began 19 seconds back.

Shortly after Ilves took off, the chase was on.

Ilves, ranked 12th in the World Cup with a third-place finish being his best of the season, held off the chasing pack to the halfway mark and was then passed.

Jens Luraas Oftebro, who had been in second, then caught a ski tip in fencing and nearly fell but managed to recover and take the lead.

Lamparter started 21 seconds back and Hirvonen started 36 seconds back, making up the biggest deficit of all the medal winners.

Ilves finished sixth, 41 seconds behind.

Oftebro was part of Norway's winning relay team in the 2022 Beijing Winter Games and won silver in the large hill event that year. He's won four gold medals in the World Championships.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics