The United States' Alexa Brabec skied to second place in the women's mass start normal hill/5km at the Nordic Combined World Cup in Ramsau, Austria, Dec. 19, marking the first time she — or any American Nordic combined athlete — has earned a World Cup silver in over five years.

After winning the provisional jumping round for the first time the day before, where she jumped 8.5 meters (just under 28 feet) further than runner-up Ingrid Laate of Norway, the 21-year-old Brabec put up another impressive performance in the formal jumping portion of the mass start event, leaping 90 meters (roughly 295 feet) for a second-place start in the 5km cross-country race. She then skied across the finish line in 15:41.2 minutes to claim silver.

Brabec now stands as the World No. 3.

Results from the provisional round are used to determine final placement and ranking points in case the actual competition is cancelled due to poor weather conditions or other impacting factors.

Teammate Annika Malacinski placed 11th. The men found their highest finish in the mass start behind Malacinski's brother, Niklas Malacinski, who finished 38th.

Brabec's silver finish comes two weeks after she broke the United States' five-year-long World Cup medal drought, claiming bronze for her first career World Cup podium finish in the individual Gunderson normal hill at the women's World Cup opener in Trondheim, Norway, Dec. 5. That weekend, she also placed 4th in the mass start normal hill/5k.

Her success potentially signals the beginning of a long-awaited shift for the U.S. Nordic combined program, which historically has not seen much success on the international level. The United States has not earned an Olympic medal of any color since 2010, when the team exploded for four podium finishes (1 gold, 3 silvers), marking the first time an American Nordic combined athlete had landed on the Olympic podium. The U.S. squad has seen some improvement since 2022, when the country entered into a partnership with Norway in which the two agreed to share training resources, but Brabec is the first American athlete to crack the top five in a World Cup competition since the cooperation began.

However, Nordic combined is the only Olympic sport, winter or summer, which does not include a women's event. The International Olympic Committee is expected to make a decision regarding whether or not to include the event on the 2030 Olympic program sometime after the 2026 Games in Milan Cortina.

The women will compete in a second event at the Ramsau World Cup, the individual normal hill/5km, Dec. 20. The circuit then will move to Otepaa, Estonia, Jan. 8-11.