In a dramatic final of the Summer Grand Prix 2016, Jarl Riiber was crowned the overall winner - a historic first Summer Grand Prix overall win for a Norwegian athlete in Nordic Combined.Also taking place parallel to the Summer Gran Prix final was the Nordic Combined Youth Cup, which saw 100 participants, including more than 30 girls take part.

Riiber secured his triumph with his victory in Oberstdorf, entering the finish 17.6 seconds before runner-up Johannes Rydzek (GER), whose winning streak at his home venue of five consecutive years was broken. Third place went to Austria’s Mario Seidl, +23:1 sec. 

It was a particularly meaningful victory for Riiber as he was a former winner of the Nordic Combined Youth Cup. 

"It means so much for me to win this title," said Riiber. "I remember when I got my trophy at the Youth Cup it was one of my Nordic Combined heroes Johannes Rydzek who handed me my trophy."

The ski jumping portion had Riiber as the top jumper again claiming 145.1 points and a 59-second lead on France’s Maxime Laheurte with his 133 metre jump. Laheurte and third-placed Håvard Klemetsen were only separated by 0.1 points with their respective 129 metre jumps (130.4 and 130.3 points) and started the race together. Overall SGP leader Mario Seidl had a one minute and eleven second-deficit to make up if he had any hopes of defending his lead. 

Riiber had a strong cross country race with his pursuers, local hero Rydzek losing time on the 18-year-old in the first laps of the race. Only towards the end, in the second to last lap did the chasing group of Rydzek, Seidl, Braud, Laheurte and Schmid catch up to close the gap to 25 seconds. In the end, Riiber held his own on the track and had enough time to carry a Norwegian flag across the finish line, celebrating his entry into the Nordic Combined history books.

Behind him, Rydzek maximised his evening by taking his second runner up finish within two days and Mario Seidl ending in third place. Francois Braud, fourth in the competition on Saturday, claimed third rank overall, edging out Fabian Riessle by nine points.

In the Youth Cup, a record number of over 100 participants and 15 nations made the event in Oberstdorf a great success. In smoothly organised competitions, the boys and girls fought for the victories in four categories on two competition days and the group of podium athletes were as diverse as the starting field.

Source: fis-ski.com