Jens Luraas Oftebro secured three gold medals in Nordic Combined at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, crediting technique adjustments led by retired champion Jarl Magnus Riiber. These changes addressed early-season struggles and helped Norway dominate the events in Val di Fiemme. The success marked a turnaround for the Norwegian team against strong Austrian competition.
Jens Luraas Oftebro, a 25-year-old Norwegian, achieved a triple gold medal sweep in Nordic Combined at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games held in Val di Fiemme. This included individual victories and a Team Sprint gold alongside Andreas Skoglund. Oftebro's prior achievements featured individual Large Hill silver and Team gold at Beijing 2022, plus eight World Championship medals, including silvers in 2023 and 2025.
The triumphs followed a challenging overhaul of the Norwegian team's jumping techniques, initiated last summer by Jarl Magnus Riiber, the five-time World Cup overall champion who retired at the end of the previous season due to Crohn's disease. Riiber, now serving as an equipment expert, aimed to counter advancements by Austrian jumpers like Johannes Lamparter and Stefan Rettenegger. "We had to improve when we saw what the Austrians have done on the jumping hill," Riiber explained. He convinced teammates, including Oftebro, his brother Einar Luraas Oftebro, Skoglund, and Estonian Kristjan Ilves, to adopt new setups for better symmetry and technical decisions, despite initial discomfort.
Early training disruptions occurred when Norwegian ski jumping hills closed around October 15 due to weather, leading to a poor start in the World Cup season. No Norwegian men reached the podium in the opening rounds in Ruka, Finland; Trondheim, Norway; and Lahti, Finland. Progress emerged later: Oftebro placed second in Ramsau, Austria, events before Christmas, relying on his skiing strength despite 12th-place jumps. In Otepää, Estonia, Einar Luraas Oftebro earned his first podium and individual win, with Skoglund also podiuming.
By Oberhof, Germany, the Oftebro brothers shared a podium and then finished one-two. Success continued in Seefeld, Austria, with Skoglund's second podium and Oftebro's first World Cup triple. At the Olympics, Ilves led jumping in the Normal Hill, Skoglund placed third in the Large Hill, and Oftebro outskied Eero Hirvonen of Finland in the Team Sprint for the final gold.
"It has been very rewarding for me and them," Riiber reflected on the rapid changes implemented in half a year. Skoglund, 24, noted, "I’ve found a new way as to how I’m supposed to push, which seems to be working." Riiber balanced his post-retirement role with family time, appreciating Norway's parental leave policies.
