Strong performance from combiner Stefan Rettenegger in Ruka’s second individual competition – the 19-year-old from Salzburg came in 14th and thus celebrated his best career result.
The face covered with tape, the warm gloves unpacked – and yet it was extremely cold when the Nordic combined athletes contested their second individual competition of the young Olympic season on Saturday in Ruka, Finland. The thermometer showed -16 degrees Celsius. But that didn’t prevent Stefan Rettenegger from showing the best competition of his young career. The 19-year-old knew how to shine on the hill with 14th place and showed an offensive race on the cross-country ski run. So the pastor thrower, who so far had a 19th place as the best, held his position. Rettenegger: “That’s really cool” “That’s really cool,” grinned the Pongau man despite the freezing cold. “I was finally able to show what I can do on the hill. Despite the cold, I felt really good on the trail and was able to run on the train. 14th place is a really good result. ”For the second Salzburg man at the start, Mario Seidl, things didn’t go as planned this time. The 27-year-old, who started fourth, was still in second place at halftime and had to pay tribute to the infection over the 10 kilometers on the trail that had put him out of action last week. In the end, he landed in 19th place. The best Austrian was Lukas Greiderer (T) in sixth, world champion Johannes Lamparter (T) finished the competition in eighth. On Sunday, the Ruka triple will be completed, followed by another jump including a 10 km run on the program. “I’ll do a similar thing and show that I’m there and won’t let myself get down. Then something good can come out, ”says Rettenegger, eagerly awaiting his next assignment.
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