Johannes Lamparter of Austria has been the only man to put an end to Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber’s dominant grip on Nordic combined. Lamparter quickly established himself as a double threat to other athletes on the ski jumping ramp and cross-country skiing course during his breakthrough 2020-2021 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup season. There, the 20-year-old ranked first in both the Large hill/10km event and team sprint to overthrow Riiber’s three-year streak in first.

The Austrian became the second youngest individual at 19 to win a World Cup in the history of Nordic combined. He won the World Cup three weeks after winning the junior World title to become the first athlete since 1989 to win both the junior and senior titles. The last junior/senior World title was Trond Einar Elden of Norway. 

Lamparter’s impressive World Cup accomplishments have been met with defeat at the 2022 Winter Olympics. He is still searching for his first Olympic medal after missing the podium in the normal hill/10km race after a sixth-place finish and again in the large hill/10km race. He took fourth in the large hill/10km event nine seconds behind Joergen Graabak of Norway. The Austrian team was able to find the podium in the individual normal hill/10km when Lamparter’s compatriot Lukas Greiderer claimed bronze.

Riiber will not appear in the men's team event. In a sudden, last minute decision, the Norwegian traveled home two days after he took a wrong turn in the large hill/10km event. The colossal mistake cost him his 44-second lead on the field and Riiber watched as the gold medal slipped out of his fingers. The Oslo, Norway, native is one of the most consistent Nordic combined athletes and won three of the last four World Cups in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He secured silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the men’s team event.

Lamparter will enter the course in the final Nordic combined event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The large hill/4x5km team event takes place on Feb. 17 at 2:00 a.m. ET to close out the program.

**NOTE: This article was updated on Feb. 17 at 3:50 a.m. ET after Riiber did not participate in the Nordic combined team event.