Hagen edges Armbruster to win women’s World Cup opener in Trondheim

Norwegian star Ida Marie Hagen out-sprinted defending overall champion and German rival Nathalie Armbruster to win the Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup 2025–26 women’s season opener in Trondheim by just 0.1 seconds after the 5 km Individual Gundersen.

Hagen, the 2023–24 Crystal Globe winner, started 1.31 minutes behind her compatriot Ingrid Laate after placing sixth on the HS102 normal hill. She and Armbruster worked to close the gap on Laate, who had won the ski jumping round and began the 5 km nearly a minute clear of the field. On the final lap, Hagen and Armbruster caught Laate, with Hagen edging Armbruster in the finishing straight to take the win and the yellow leader’s bib.

Armbruster, who has battled a virus in the lead-up to the season, expressed relief and pride at her performance and the strength she felt on the cross-country course, saying she was more satisfied than disappointed with second place.

Hagen also celebrated training partner Alexa Brabec (USA), who secured her first World Cup podium in third. The race highlighted rising Norwegian talent as 18-year-old Laate, a Junior World Championships medallist and Norwegian Nationals silver medallist behind Hagen, topped both the Provisional Competition Round (100 m) and the competition jump (96 m, 126.4 pts) to start with a 0.58-point advantage over Finland’s Heta Hirvonen.

Sixteen-year-old Minja Korhonen (FIN), who became the youngest woman to reach a World Cup podium in Ramsau in December 2023, finished fifth in Trondheim after ranking just behind Hagen in the Gundersen standings.

The result sets up another compelling season-long rivalry between Hagen and Armbruster, with Laate and Brabec signaling added depth in the women’s field.