Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro won his second gold medal of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in the Nordic combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km event. The victory came after a strong surge in the cross-country portion, ahead of Austria's Johannes Lamparter and Finland's Ilkka Herola. American Niklas Malacinski achieved the best U.S. result with 13th place.
The event took place on February 17, 2026, with ski jumping in Predazzo and the 10-kilometer cross-country race in Tesero, Italy. Oftebro placed fifth in the jumping round with a 132.5-meter leap earning 144.6 points, starting the ski race 22 seconds behind leader Ryota Yamamoto of Japan. Yamamoto, who won the jump with 136.5 meters and 150 points for an eight-second head start, finished 15th overall.
Lamparter, second in jumping with 136 meters and 148 points, took an early lead in the cross-country but was caught by Oftebro before the halfway mark. Oftebro then accelerated after the 8.7-kilometer point, creating a gap to win by six seconds over Lamparter, with Herola 15 seconds back in third. This marked Herola's first Olympic medal in his fourth Games.
"I had dreamed about one, but to win two is something very special," Oftebro said. Lamparter added, "You don’t win a medal every day, so once again it’s a really nice day."
Malacinski, a 23-year-old from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, recorded his career-best Olympic result in 13th. He jumped 129.5 meters for 129.9 points, the 12th-best jump, starting 1 minute and 20 seconds behind Yamamoto. His ski time was 27 minutes, 10.4 seconds, finishing 2 minutes and 22.4 seconds behind Oftebro. U.S. teammate Ben Loomis placed 27th.
Nordic combined, contested since the 1924 Winter Olympics, remains men-only and faces potential removal from future Games due to low viewership and dominance by a few nations. Protests for women's inclusion occurred, including a sign held by Malacinski's sister Annika.
