While Ski Jumping and Cross-Country are gearing up for their respective season highlights, the Four Hills Tournament and the Tour de Ski, the suspense is still building a little bit slower in Nordic Combined… but nor for long! As soon as the Nordic "colleagues" have left the center stage, a new season highlight is ready for takeoff: the Nordic Combined TRIPLE.
Much talking, planning and preparing has gone into this new project which will complete the competition calendar for the Nordic disciplines and was created to dovetail with the Four Hills Tournament and the Tour de Ski for a comprehensive Nordic winter sports experience for spectators, TV audience and athletes alike.
Set in Seefeld, Austria, the toughest weekend of the winter will see three different competitions on three days (plus the Provisional Competition round on Thursday, January 16) and as Italian shooting star Alessandro Pittin puts it "probably very tired athletes on Sunday".
All athletes take their results with them from day to day, from the 1-jump, 5-kilometre Prologue on Friday, 17th of January to the 1-jump, 10-kilometre Individual Gundersen on Saturday to the Finale Grande with two jumps and 15 kilometres of cross-country skiing on Sunday, 17th of January. The first athlete to cross the finish line is the Triple winner.
And after the motto "the winner takes it all", there will be double the amount of World Cup points and extra prize money to be had for the happy winner of the first edition. Reaching these rewards will not be easy as only the Top 50 from Friday are allowed to start in Saturday's race and on Sunday, the start right is limited to the Top 30 of the Triple ranking.
Find more information about the competition modus and the TV presentation here:
In addition to this thrilling competition line-up, the Organizing Committee has put on some extra side events to make the Seefeld-weekend into an unforgettable experience for visitors. On Thursday night, the event kicks off with the World Cup Opening evening in Seefeld's famous Casino. On Friday, Seefeld will celebrate it's candidature for the Nordic World Ski Championships 2019 with a big "WM-Party" in the village city centre. DJ Alex will spin the latest tunes for the crowd, there will be time to look back on the last big events in Seefeld's Olympic region and the application for the World Championships will be presented to the public. Snow bars will take care of the culinary needs of the audience.
On Saturday, the athletes and eight celebrities will be taking part in the evening's entertainment: in a brand-new mixed relay, the celebrities will have to work in in the cross-country tracks while the athlete take over the ski jumping part on the "Wii" gaming console. And of course DJ Alex won't be missing who will once again deliver the acoustic backdrop for the event.
Tickets for Nordic Combined's season highlight are available at the tourism office and the World Cup office in Seefeld as well as at the box-office. For further information see www.seefeld.com and www.weltcup-seefeld.com
