Ida Marie Hagen claimed her second consecutive victory in the FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup at Lugnet. On the men\u2019s side, it was an Italian win after great drama in front of packed stands.<\/p>\n
Ida Marie Hagen is the world\u2019s leading athlete in Nordic Combined. Today she secured her second straight win in the Continental Cup competitions at Lugnet, doing so after a very strong cross-country performance. She won the morning\u2019s cross-country segment by 55 seconds:
\u2014 I\u2019m in good shape in cross-country skiing. I actually liked yesterday\u2019s course even better. It was a bit tougher and suits me better, Hagen says.<\/p>\n
However, it became exciting in the jumping segment. Hagen didn\u2019t quite get it right on the hill. She jumped 86.5 meters, while American Alexa Brabec delivered a 95-meter jump.
\u2014 My jumping on Friday was clearly better, but I\u2019m happy it was enough for the win. I\u2019m looking forward to competing in the team event tomorrow. And of course also the World Championships next year. Then we\u2019ll get to compete on the large hill as well, and I\u2019m really looking forward to that, says Hagen.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s competition was very thrilling. After the morning\u2019s cross-country race, a trio of athletes had pulled away to take a lead heading into the ski jumping. Once there, however, things changed dramatically. Finland\u2019s Herman Happonen, who was tenth in the cross-country segment, produced a superb 95-meter jump and climbed all the way up to second place. The margin to the winning Italian, Iacopo Bortolas, was just 1.1 points. Bortolas had finished sixth in the cross-country segment.
\u2014 I understood that the chance was there to achieve something really big after the cross-country race, because ski jumping is my strength, even though I\u2019ve become a more consistent cross-country skier, says Bortolas, who secured victory with a 94.5-meter jump.
\u2014 It was a really nice day. Good weather, lots of spectators, and it went quite well too, smiles the 22-year-old Bortolas, who is aiming to return to Lugnet next year to compete at the World Championships.
\u2014 That\u2019s a big goal. I\u2019m really looking forward to coming back next year. It will be really exciting to have the World Championships here next year.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the Continental Cup competitions in Nordic combined at Lugnet conclude with the team event.<\/p>\n
Photo: Ulf Palm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ida Marie Hagen claimed her second consecutive victory in the FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup at Lugnet. On the men\u2019s side, it was an Italian win after great drama in front of packed stands. Ida Marie Hagen is the world\u2019s leading athlete in Nordic Combined. Today she secured her second straight win in the Continental…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n