Part II: The road to Sochi and the overall World
Cup
Right after the Nordic Combined Triple, the next
highlight will follow suit: the Olympic Games in
Sochi. Part II of the extended season preview will
take you to all stops of the later part of the winter!
Oberstdorf: 25.01. & 26.01.
Wedged in between the Triple and the next highlight,
the Olympics, the German organiser of Oberstdorf
has found its way back into the Nordic Combined
calendar. Oberstdorf came to the rescue two years
ago when there was no snow in Schonach. The Norwegian
team and Mikko Kokslien are the defending title
holders of the Individual Gundersen and team event,
but rest assured, the German local heroes, spearheaded
by Oberstdorf-resident Johannes Rydzek will be out
for revenge. Rydzek will surely be going for a winter
podium at his hometown after he won at least one
Summer Grand Prix competition in Oberstdorf the
past four years.
Sochi 2014: 12.02., 18.02. & 20.02.
It will be sports history when the Nordic Combined
athletes go to Sochi to find their new Olympic Champions
in the Individual Gundersen from the large and small
hill as well as in the team event. The reigning
gold medalists Jason Lamy Chappuis and Bill Demong
will want to have their say in the redistribution
of the honours, as well as the winning team of Austria.
Lahti: 28.02. & 01.03.
The final stretch of the season closes the circle
and goes back to Scandinavia again. First up is
the 90th edition of the Lahti Ski Games which again
brings all three disciplines to one venue. Last
year, all top Nordic Combined finishers were German
with Eric Frenzel winning the individual and Frenzel
and Rydzek succeeding in the Team Sprint. Will we
see a revival of this German glory or can somebody
else take the win?
Trondheim: 06.03.
Another returnee on the Nordic Combined calendar,
Trondheim, welcomes the Nordic all-rounders back
to the northern part of Norway. With Magnus Moan,
Jan Schmid, Joergen Graabak, Magnus Krog and Haavard
Klemetsen all living and training in and around
Trondheim, this should be a true home game for the
majority of the Norwegian team, drawing huge interest
from the local crowd.
Oslo: 08.03.
A trip to the cradle of Nordic skiing, to Holmenkollen
in Oslo, will of course not be left off the winter
2013/14 calendar. The Individual Gundersen competition
offers one chance to the athletes to get their hand
on the prestigious King's Cup after Eric Frenzel
and Jason Lamy Chappuis split the two wins last
year.
Falun: 15.03. & 16.03.
The last race of 2013/14 is the World Championship
test in Falun, Sweden. After 14 years away, the
Nordic Combined World Cup is back in Sweden and
some athletes from the late 90s are still competing:
Todd Lodwick and Mario Stecher. Can the U.S. veteran
repeat a position like his 1999 seventh rank in
the Sprint competition? Or will Stecher show the
others the back of his head like in his 1998 Sprint
win?
One thing is certain: there will not be much time
for rest as one highlight chases the next during
the winter of 2013/14, in one of Nordic Combined's
most exciting seasons ever!
