This time the double world champion and second on Saturday only had to admit defeat to the Norwegian Jörgen Graabak by 1.5 seconds. Third place went to Grabaak’s compatriot Jarl Magnus Riiber, who is on ground on the leader in the overall World Cup standings Lamparter lost. As the second best Austrian, Franz-Josef Rehrl finished eighth.
Lamparter, who achieved the best time in cross-country skiing, was very satisfied immediately afterwards in an ORF interview. “A great day. I’m very happy with second place, I can’t imagine a better home World Cup.” Graabak spoke of a “tough race. Lamparter was so strong, so fast. We ended up having a great fight.”
Former series winner Riiber was less happy. “I’m disappointed with how the weekend ended, but compared to yesterday (note: tenth place) it was progress,” said the Norwegian, describing Graabak and Lamparter as “the two currently best combined athletes”.
Because of the strong wind, jumping was out of the question. The start took into account the provisional round, which Este Kristjan Ilves had won ahead of Riiber, Terence Weber and Rehrl on Saturday before the competition jump.
However, according to the adjusted triple score, in which the top 15 add the bonus points for their placings in the Nordic Combined Triple standings, Graabak opened. Lamparter went into the cross-country ski trail six seconds behind and ex aequo with Riiber in fourth place. A second behind, Rehrl started sixth. A six-man leadership group, which initially included Rehrl, quickly became a trio consisting of Riiber, Graabak and Lamparter.
In the last lap Riiber tore off, victory sprinted Lamparter and Graabak out. Despite the fastest runtime of Lamparter Graabak finally had the edge, but the Tyrolean could get over that. “I’m very happy with the whole weekend, and my jumps were ok again. I know where I stand in terms of skiing, it’s nice that I can keep up with the best. Now we’re looking forward to a few days at altitude, to adapt optimally for the games. And then I’ll look to Beijing full of confidence,” said the 20-year-old.
Head coach Christoph Eugen also drew a positive conclusion. “I’m very satisfied, because especially here in Seefeld we’ve never had really good results in the triple. It’s all the more gratifying that Johannes was on the podium in every competition.” But there is still a lot of work to do before the Olympics. “We still have to eliminate one or the other mistake on the hill and improve”, demanded Eugen. The Olympic combined team is now traveling on to Praxmar, where the week is used for training. The plane to Beijing will take off next Friday.
Source: Nachrichten
