Germany returns to Nordic combined team gold in Trondheim

Germany ends its run of team silvers

Germany won the men's Nordic combined team title at the 2025 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim on 7 March. Johannes Rydzek, Wendelin Thannheimer, Julian Schmid and Vinzenz Geiger finished the large-hill and 4 x 5 km event in 50 minutes 37.7 seconds. The official final table places Austria second, 6.8 seconds behind, and Norway third at 1 minute 39.8 seconds.

It was Germany's first world title in the event since 2017. Germany had taken silver at the three intervening World Championships and at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The Trondheim gold therefore ended a sequence of second-place finishes, while Norway's attempt to win a fourth consecutive World Championships team title ended with bronze.

Wind postponement changes the competition day

The team event had originally been scheduled for 6 March. FIS postponed the jumping because strong winds prevented a safe start on Granåsen's HS138 large hill. The revised programme placed the jumping at noon on 7 March and the cross-country relay later that afternoon.

The completed event must consequently be dated 7 March, rather than the originally advertised date. Its format combined one scored large-hill jump from each of four team members with four 5 km skiing legs. The jumping classification established the relay's start intervals, and the final skiing finish determined the overall medal positions. The event's total skiing distance was 20 km, distributed equally across the four athletes.

Norway's score changes after equipment ruling

Norway initially recorded 528.9 jumping points, which would have produced a 20-second lead over Austria. Jørgen Graabak was then disqualified for an irregular binding. FIS reported that the ruling removed 122.3 points from Norway's score and was upheld after a Norwegian protest.

The revised starting order left Norway 1 minute 40 seconds behind Austria and Germany. This was a disqualification of Graabak's jumping performance, not a disqualification of the complete Norwegian team from the event: Norway remained ranked and ultimately won bronze. Its quartet comprised Simen Tiller, Graabak, Jens Lurås Oftebro and Jarl Magnus Riiber.

Austria's silver-winning team consisted of Johannes Lamparter, Franz-Josef Rehrl, Martin Fritz and Fabio Obermeyr. The distinction between the equipment sanction and the team's final bronze is essential to describing the official result accurately.

The final field and individual milestones

Finland placed fourth, 2 minutes 8.7 seconds behind Germany, with Japan fifth at 3:15.9. Italy was sixth at 3:39.1, France seventh at 3:45.4 and the United States eighth at 6:57.6. Ukraine completed the nine-team classification in ninth at 10:22.7.

FIS counted the result as Rydzek's seventh world title and 14th World Championships medal. Geiger, Schmid and championship debutant Thannheimer won their first World Championships golds. All four German athletes belonged to the same Oberstdorf ski club, making the national title a shared milestone for that group.

Riiber's bronze was his 14th World Championships medal and his first of that colour, following ten golds and three silvers. Norway remained on the podium alongside the German and Austrian quartets despite the change to its jumping score.