Nordic Combined shooting star Jarl Riiber has taken his first Summer Grand Prix win in the Individual Gundersen event in Oberwiesenthal. After a clear lead in the jumping part, Riiber did not relinquish his lead and finally finished 2.8 seconds ahead of Austria’s Mario Seidl. Local hero and German veteran Björn Kircheisen continued in his strong shape which he already displayed in his Team Sprint victory together with Eric Frenzel yesterday and entered the podium again. Kircheisen crossed the finish line 5.1 second later than Riiber.

The ski jumping part turned into a Riiber-gala performance with the 18-year-old setting the longest jump of the field with 101 metres, starting from three gates lower than the rest of his competitors. This gave the Norwegian 137.8 points and a head start of one minute and nine seconds on second-placed Austrian Franz-Josef Rehrl who jumped 100 metres (120.6 p.). On rank three after the jumping part was Japan’s Yoshito Watabe with 99 metres and a total on 119.6 points.

Riiber paced himself during the race in Oberwiesenthal’s 30°C heat but behind him, the fight for the rest of the podium entered the critical stage two laps before the finish. American Taylor Fletcher shot through the field and reached the top group fighting for the podium around that time, starting with a 2:25 disadvantage. In the pursuing group, established athletes Björn Kircheisen, Berhard Gruber, Jan Schmid, Francois Braud fought with youngsters Mario Seidl, Franz-Josef Rehl, Tomas Portyk and Eero Hirvonen for the top spots and in the end, Seidl and Kircheisen were the strongest ones.

The Top Ten were completed by Rehrl, Portyk, Braud, Fletcher, Gruber, Schmid and Laheurte most of whom then proceeded to cool down in Oberwiesenthal’s city fountain, a tradition that was started in the blistering heat of last year’s SGP edition.

The Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix will now move to the Austrian town of Villach where another Individual Gundersen is on schedule on Wednesday.

Source: fis-ski.com