By Tommy Lund and Liz Hampton
TESERO, Italy, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Norway’s Jens Luraas Oftebro produced a powerful late surge to win the gold medal in the men’s large hill Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday.
Austria’s Johannes Lamparter secured silver and Finland’s Ilkka Herola the bronze as Oftebro settled the race with a decisive surge up the final climb in the closing metres of the 10-kilometre course, a finish that echoed fellow Norwegian Johannes Klaebo’s trademark late kick in the cross-country sprint earlier in the Games.
“It was a bit of a tactical race, but I felt strong and it was difficult to get the gap earlier,” Oftebro told Reuters, before denying that he had tried to emulate Klaebo.
“No, I didn’t feel like him, but of course it’s nice when you feel like you get a gap. But I still got like one turn and another uphill so I was a bit afraid of crashing, so I needed to be focused. But I think Klaebo would have gone pretty fast.”
The gold was the 25-year-old’s second of the Games, adding to the normal hill Nordic combined title he claimed on Wednesday.
Lamparter, who started eight seconds behind in second place after the ski jumping, moved quickly to the front in the early stages and opened up a small advantage. His pace faded around the halfway mark, allowing his rivals to reel him in and he ended up 5.9 seconds behind Oftebro.
Lamparter admitted Oftebro was tough to beat.
“You always need to believe in it, but I knew that he is probably the strongest one. So I tried it, but I need to accept it,” he told Reuters.
Herola faded in the closing stages and said he had little energy left for the final push.
“I knew I didn’t have anything to fight with against Jens and Johannes. They had their own game going on there. I was part of it without any role,” he said.
“I was so tired. My only goal was to keep it together until the finish line.”
Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto, who led after the large hill segment, struggled in the sunny conditions and faded to 15th, finishing more than two minutes behind Oftebro.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund, editing by Ed Osmond)
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