Dhe burden is heavy, but Nathalie Armbruster doesn’t want to be crushed by it. On the contrary. Just as it suits her nature, the Black Forest girl, who just turned 17, wants to present herself on the biggest stage of her still young career: Fresh, free and carefree, the prospective high school graduate from Freudenstadt will fight this Friday (11:30 a.m. jumping and 2:15 p.m. cross-country skiing in the ZDF and on Eurosport) for the world championship title in Nordic combined.
She is one of the athletes in the ranks of the German Ski Association (DSV), to which the future belongs. Actually. Because the continued existence of Nordic combined, since the beginning of the first Winter Games in 1924 with men in the Olympic program, is on the brink. The women are missing at the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has other plans than seeing the combined women on the hill and on the cross-country ski run.
“A Childhood Dream Has Died”
“That was a slap in the face,” says Nathalie Armbruster, who, as a conscientious straight-A student, took math and Spanish documents with her in her luggage to the Nordic World Championships in Planica. “This decision killed a childhood dream for me,” she says of the Olympic end. “It’s also about grants. That makes us incredibly angry.”
In the ranks of the DSV there is also horror about the basic continued existence of the combined athletes. And so it was probably more than just a sign that two Nordic combined athletes, Nathalie Armbruster and Olympic champion Vinzenz Geiger, carried the German flag at the opening ceremony in Planica. “It was a great honor for me,” says the Freudenstadt native, who has already finished on the podium seven times this World Cup season. “But it was also a very symbolic appearance.”
No pressure, no excessive expectations: The combination team does the right thing, that Nathalie Armbruster can develop sportingly free of obligations. “We certainly won’t expect a 17-year-old to pull the coals out of the fire for us,” says national coach Florian Aichinger. “Nathalie is a huge stroke of luck for the whole team. She should learn. It is a promise for the future.” Aichinger knows: “We must not burn it.”
Nevertheless, the chances are great, very great even, that Nathalie Armbruster can win a medal for Germany as the first combined athlete. Your form is captivating. But even more impressive is the performance of her biggest opponent from the successful country of Nordic skiing, the Norwegian Gyda Westvold Hansen. Nine World Cup starts, nine victories: it would be a big surprise if she of all people failed to defend her title.
A catalyst for the Olympic future?
Nathalie Armbruster finished third at the World Championship dress rehearsal in Schonach. A large part of the teaching staff has been out on the ski jump and on the cross-country ski run. The support for the combiner is huge. Absences from school add up, but are apparently not a problem, because the Freudenstadt native also masters the school exams with flying colours. It is this mix of focus and lightness that drives the young woman to achieve top performance. She is driven by the hope that the Olympic door might open for the Nordic athletes in 2030. “I’m trying to do everything I can to make sure we’re there,” she says.
The IOC does not like that the combination is dominated by only four nations: Norway, Germany, Austria and Japan. In most other countries, interest is low. Olympic champion Geiger has high hopes for the World Cup, which should act as a catalyst and in the long term. “It’s a major event at a brilliant location. I’m confident that things will look good.” For the first time at a world championship, men and women will compete together in a mixed competition. But first it’s: Ladies first – and clear the stage for Nathalie Armbruster, the new face of Nordic Combined.