Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro wins 2nd gold in Nordic combined

TESERO, Italy (AP) — Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro turned on the afterburners and galloped uphill past his rivals on the 10-kilometer cross-country ski race to claim his second straight gold medal in Nordic combined at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

“I had dreamed about one, but to win two is something very special,” he said. “When I went (ahead) in the second-last climb, it was very good, so I’m really happy that I could come into the finish straight alone.”

Johannes Lamparter of Austria, who finished second behind Oftebro in the normal hill event, won his second silver and Ilkka Herola of Finland, who had never medaled in four Olympics, got bronze.

The event begins with a single ski jump in the morning where distance and style points are computed into a time advantage for the best jumper. The rest of the field starts the cross-country ski race behind the leader according to the ranking from their jump and the first to cross the line is the winner.

Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto got an eight-second head start over Lamparter after the ski jump and Norway’s Andreas Skoglund started 16 seconds back.

Oftebro, who won the normal hill event last week, started 22 seconds behind in fifth place. Herola started 32 seconds back in seventh place.

Lamparter, ranked first in the world coming into the Olympics, broke out to an early lead as Oftebro led a group of seven chasing him.

By the halfway mark, Lamparter had been caught and the three eventual medalists were nearly on their own as Skoglund tried in vain to hang on.

On the second-to-last hill, Oftebro exploded, leaving Herola and Lamparter behind and building enough of a gap to ease up in the home stretch and glide across the finish line.

Lamparter finished six seconds behind and Herola was 15 seconds back.

“You don’t win a medal every day, so once again it’s a really nice day," Lamparter said. "The first one was a bit more emotional, but it’s special. I’m relieved, happy, all of those emotions and really proud of myself.”

Niklas Malacinski was the highest-placed U.S. finisher in 13th.

Yamamoto finished 15th.

Nordic combined has been contested since the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and is the only event in the winter Games that excludes women. It faces possible elimination from the International Olympic Committee because it draws a small audience and a few nations dominate.

The winners in both Nordic combined events held so far was nearly identical with the only difference being that Herola took the place of fellow Finn Eero Hirvonen, who won bronze on the shorter hill.

Fans who want to save the sport — and those who want women included — held signs of protest at the two events. Malasinski's sister, Annika, who is on the U.S. women's Nordic combined team and was heartbroken when the IOC decided not to include women this year, held a sign that said, “No exception” on one side and “Make Olympics gender equal” on the other.

The IOC is due to make its decision later this year.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Jens Luraas Oftebro, of Norway, soars through the air during his competition round jump of the nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Fans hold sigs while watching the ski jumping of the nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Ryota Yamamoto, of Japan, soars through the air during his competition round jump of the nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jens Luraas Oftebro, of Norway, from left, Johannes Lamparter, of Austria, and Ilkka Herola, of Finland, compete in the nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Gold medalist Jens Luraas Oftebro, of Norway, celebrates on the podium flanked by silver medalist Johannes Lamparter, of Austria, left, and bronze medalist Ilkka Herola, of Finland, after the nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

MILAN (AP) — Francisco Seco is a chief photographer for The Associated Press based in Istanbul. These are his fourth Olympics after Japan, China, and France.

Because everything is in the right place. This particular move is called the “death spiral,” and every photographer’s goal is to freeze the female athlete’s face in an upside-down position really close to her male partner’s skate blades. This is the first time I managed to show her face positioned between her partner’s legs while they were spinning in a very fast movement.

I was at ice level using a 400mm lens and a high-speed shutter (1/2000). I always bring a minimum of three cameras with different lenses so when I saw this pair was going to perform the “death spiral” move I switched from a 300mm lens to a 400mm to get a closer shot. Our camera’s focus system is super fast and it helped me catch the woman’s face in focus as they were moving very quickly.

As I said before I think everything is in the right place. The photo catches your attention because it’s a ‘rare’ situation. It’s a nice compositional photograph. The combination of the upside-down face near the skate blades and the scratched ice background makes you ask yourself, “What’s going on there?”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany compete during the pairs figure skating long program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)