Geraghty-Moats Wins Inaugural Women’s World Cup Nordic Combined 

American Tara Geraghty-Moats won the first-ever women’s FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Ramsau, Austria, Friday.

“This is something that I have dreamed about since I was about 10 years old,” she said after prevailing by 1.5 seconds over Norwegian Gyda Westvold Hansen, who had a 39-second advantage over the American going into the 5k cross country portion after scoring the highest in the ski jump. Tara finished fifth in the jumping portion and then had the fastest skiing time at 13:19.3 to seal the victory. Anju Nakamura of Japan was third.

The two-time Continental Cup champion came into the event a bit unsure of her jumping, but in the end, she relied on her experience to propel her to victory and the record books. 

“Coming into this competition I was really uncertain of myself because I had not put a bib on in 10 months,” she said, “and I had 10% of my ski jumping training that I had hoped to have. But all day long I just kept telling myself that I could do it one step at a time.”

Three other Americans also competed. Annika Malacinski was 28th, Alexa Brabec finished 29th, and Tess Arnone was 30th. 

Two other World Cup Nordic combined stops that were to include men’s and women’s events this season have been canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic. The first women’s nordic combined event is scheduled for February at the FIS World Nordic Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany.

“A huge thanks to my team and the FIS for finally inviting the women to the big leagues,” Tara added.

RESULTS
Women’s Nordic Combined