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Schmid thrilled at the start of the season in Finland – Olympic standard achieved!
Julian Schmid secured second place at the Nordic Combined season opener in Finland and met the Olympic standard.
Schmid thrilled at the start of the season in Finland – Olympic standard achieved!
The starting signal for the new Nordic combined season was given today in Ruka, Finland, and the German combined athletes showed what they can do in an impressive way right from the start. Julian Schmid in particular, who was able to remind people of the gap left by the injured overall World Cup winner Vinzenz Geiger with his excellent second place, caused a sensation. Geiger, who is currently sidelined due to three torn ligaments on his right foot that he sustained while playing soccer, is expected to make his comeback starting December 19 in Ramsau, Austria. Until then, the German athletes will have to get by without him.
Julian Schmid, 26 years old, catapulted himself into the top spot with a jump of 130.5 meters and started the subsequent cross-country skiing over 7.5 kilometers 17 seconds behind the Austrian winner Johannes Lamparter. Lamparter, who crossed the finish line with a lead of 7.7 seconds over Schmid, once again proved his class. The Finnish Ilkka Herola secured third place, also leaving Schmid behind by 17 seconds. Olympic champion Johannes Rydzek was able to improve from 22nd place to tenth place with a strong performance, while Terence Weber and David Mach took eleventh and twelfth place and thus achieved half the internal standard for qualification for the Winter Games in Italy in February.
Winter Olympics 2026: A look into the future
The XXV. The 2026 Winter Olympics, taking place in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, will bring some changes to Nordic combined. Instead of the previous team competition, a team sprint will be held, in which each team consists of two athletes. The competitions are scheduled for February 11th and 17th, 2026, plus the team sprint on February 19th, 2026. The venues are the Dal Ben ski jumps and the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium.
A total of 36 quota places are planned for the Nordic Combined for this Olympic cycle, which should further fuel competition among athletes. With today's achievement, Schmid has already broken the Olympic standard, which puts him in a good starting position for the upcoming competitions.
So it will be interesting to see how the German team will perform without its top athlete Vinzenz Geiger as the Winter Olympics get closer. The anticipation for what is expected to be exciting competitions is growing with each passing day, and the first results give hope that the team has the potential to fight for the medals.
How these performances will play out over the next few weeks and in the upcoming qualifying competitions remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that Schmid and Co. will give everything to be at the forefront in Italy.