If you were in Innsbruck or Seefeld a couple of weeks ago, you probably noticed an unusual amount of people waving flags and with painted faces… Over 200.000 fans from all around the world came to Innsbruck and Seefeld to watch the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships – and another 200 million TV viewers watched at home.

Nordic Skiing is an old branch of winter sports, and includes Cross-Country, Ski Jumping, and Nordic Combined. Have a look at my previous blog for a little bit more info on the different disciplines.

The 2019 Nordic Skiing WC Winners

Norway dominated the World Cup and ended with 25 medals – more than the next 4 countries combined. Germany ranked second, and Sweden completed the top three. Austria ended up in 6^th place, but achieved a total of 9 medals! Unfortunately, there were no golden medals amongst those nine.

Have a look at the Austrian victories:

1. REHRL Franz-Josef | Individual Gundersen 10km (bronze)

2. REHRL Franz-Josef, GRUBER Bernhard | Team sprint 2 x 7,5km (bronze)

3. ASCHENWALD Philipp, HAYBOECK Michael, HUBER Daniel, KRAFT Stefan | Large Hill Team (silver)

4. PINKELNIG Eva, SEIFRIEDSBERGER Jacqueline, HOELZL Chiara, IRASCHKO-STOLZ Daniela | Normal Hill Team (silver)

5. IRASCHKO-STOLZ Daniela | Normal Hill Individual (bronze)

6. GRUBER Bernhard | Individual Gundersen (silver)

7. KRAFT Stefan | Normal Hill Individual (bronze)

8. GRUBER Bernhard, SEIDL Mario, REHRL Franz-Josef, KLAPFER Lukas | Team Gundersen 4 x 5.0 km (bronze)

9. PINKELNIG Eva, ASCHENWALD Philipp, IRASCHKO Daniela, KRAFT Stefan |Normal Hill Mixed Team (silver)

Bergisel Ski Jump

A view from the Bergisel Ski Jump during the first weekend of the World Cup. © Danijel Jovanovic Photography

The Bergisel Ski jump is the pride of Innsbruck, and visible from pretty much everywhere in the city. Many people gathered here on the first weekend to enjoy the Large Hill discipline. Watch how EISENBICHLER Markus won the golden medal at the Bergisel Ski Jump:

https://youtu.be/zN5MyBEXOQQ?t=152

Markeng Tomas from Norway misjudged the end of the run a little bit and had a minor crash at the end.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, a lot of people were working at the Bergisel to get it ready for the World Championships. Max from the organisation at Bergisel tells me that: “A thing I’ll remember most is the joy and fun of all our workers at and around the hill. When everyone at the event, including all suppliers and partners, have fun working, then you know, you did something right. And it only functions when they all make it through together”. They are now already looking forward to the next Four Hills Tournament!

Crosscountry Skiing is a very intense sport

Something I noticed while watching the event is how intense this sport seems. The athletes are drooling and some just collapse when they cross the finish line. Since I’ve never done the sport, I have no real explanation for this, I could only imagine how hard it is on their bodies and how far they have to push themselves to the limit. Have a look at how Nilsson Stina literaly just throws herself over the finish line in the  the women’s Relay 4 x 5km:

https://youtu.be/nlRFcLKfPKÄt=34

Seefeld 2019 Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was a beautiful day, so many people gathered in Seefeld for the final event. It’s always a custom that the flags are taken to the next city where the World Championships will be held – in this case, the 2021 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships will be held in Oberstdorf, Germany.

Have you heard the official song of the World Cup?

For further information about the event as well as the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup visit:

https://www.fis-ski.com/en/nordic-combined

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fis.nordiccombined

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fisnc