The inaugural men's team large hill contest closed out the Nordic combined events at Milan Cortina 2026 with a thrilling cross-country race that saw multiple crashes and a dramatic sprint for Olympic gold and silver.
Jens Luraas Oftebro of Norway reigned supreme at the finish line for the third Nordic combined event in a row, winning the Olympic title in team large hill for Norway alongside teammate Andreas Skoglund. Norway swept all three Nordic combined events at these Games after Luraas Oftebro won Olympic gold in both normal and large hill events.
"It was more than I expected to get three golds," Luraas Oftebro said. "It was hard out there today but [Skoglund and I] were strong even though it was tricky to stay on the skis and not crash."
Finland's Eero Hirvonen, who won bronze in the normal hill contest on Feb. 11, lost ground in the final sprint against Luraas Oftebro and finished just 0.5 seconds behind Norway. He won silver with teammate Ilkka Herola, who won bronze in the large hill contest on Feb. 17.
"It was our goal to get this medal and it’s special to win it together, but for me, I’m a bit disappointed about my last sprint there because the gold was so close," Hirvonen said.
"I’m not disappointed with Eero’s final sprint, I thought it was great. It was a hard fight until the end and we are extremely happy with the silver medal," Herola said of his teammate's finish.
Austria's Johannes Lamparter distantly followed to take home bronze with Stefan Rettenegger, finishing 22.3 seconds behind Norway. Lamparter earned Olympic silver behind Luraas Oftebro in the normal and large hill contests.
Harsh conditions marred the athletes' ability to perform on the ski jump and cross-country piste. The heavy snowfall created slower conditions on the jump's in-run, forcing organizers to use industrial leaf blowers in an attempt to dry the in-run between jumps. American Ben Loomis was obstructed by a leaf blower but reportedly decided against making a second jump.
The cross-country course was covered in heavy powder, with snow coming up to the top of athletes' boots at some points. The softer conditions made skiing more challenging, favoring stronger cross-country teams like Norway.
The relay format of the competition also required athletes to pace themselves in each of their five 1.5km sprints. Unlike in the typical normal and large hill events, in which skiers race across a 10km course without any stops, skiers had to alternate 1.5km laps and recovery periods with their partner in the team event.
Germans Johannes Rydzek and Vinzenz Geiger, who led the field after the ski jumping segment, were only able to hold their 13-second lead shortly into the 3km lap. A tight five-country pack consisting of Norway, Finland, Austria, Germany and Japan formed to lead the race.
Norway proceeded to lead the race until after the 7.5km-point, when Luraas Oftebro let Lamparter take the lead. It was short lived.
Skoglund slogged ahead of Rettenegger during a snowy climb just before the 10.5km-mark, forcing six-time Olympian Akito Watabe of Japan to fall behind slightly.
Shortly before a climb in lap eight (of 10), Geiger and Japan's Ryota Yamamoto collided and fell. Geiger quickly bounced back but fell again, just a few feet away from where Yamamoto had to collect his ski pole. Germany and Japan dropped from the leading pack and were unable to recover, coming in 5th and 6th.
Just one lap later, after the 12km-point, Rettenegger crashed in what appeared to be the same area where Geiger and Yamamoto fell. He lost crucial seconds but was able to gain some momentum back, finishing the lap only 8.8 seconds behind Finland's Herola, who led the race.
"They were not the easiest conditions. There’s lots of snow and parts of the track that are really deep," Rettenegger said. Unfortunately, I caught one of those with the tip of my skis and didn’t manage to stay on top of my feet."
And then there were two. Luraas Oftebro and Hirvonen fiercly raced each other in the final lap of the course. Hirvonen briefly led until Luraas Oftebro surged ahead of him during the climb. As they turned around the final corner, the Norwegian almost fell down but quickly recovered. They entered the finish zone head-to-head, but Luraas Oftebro was able to slightly pull ahead.
Niklas Malacinski and Loomis led the U.S. to a 7th-place finish, maintaining their ranking from the ski jumping portion, where they also finished 7th.
Nordic Combined Team Large Hill Medalists
🥇Norway (Jens Luraas Oftebro and Andreas Skoglund)
🥈Finland (Eero Hirvonen and Ilkka Herola)
🥉Austria (Johannes Lamparter and Stefan Rettenegger)