Athletes of the Week: Akito Watabe & Jarl Riiber

Great performances require great rewards and so for the first time in its history, there will be two “Athletes of the Week”. Why? Because the great Akito Watabe was already the “Athlete of the Week” after his Ruka Tour-win but can of course not be left out of the pictures after his tour-de-force in Seefeld that did not only give him three consecutive World Cup victories but also made him the first athlete to win the Nordic Combined TRIPLE who is not Eric Frenzel.

Watabe, who had struggled with that missing bit of luck and a bad case of the fourth and second-place disease” for years finally had his big moment in the spotlight. He started the season strong by winning the Ruka Tour and now won his first major title with the Nordic Combined TRIPLE. What made Watabe so irresistible: stable jumping on the highest level (just ask the jumping judges of the past weekend), a controlled, strong cross-country performance, inner calm, confidence and finally, the best of luck that so many well-meaning fans from all nations kept wishing for the universally beloved Japanese.

But also Jarl Magnus Riiber’s performance of the last weekend cannot be praised highly enough. Even though he had to concede defeat to the Watabe by over one minute, there had probably only been few who thought it possible for Riiber to stay on the TRIPLE overall podium, let alone the second place.

Riiber, who had been fêted as Nordic Combined’s new super talent and ski jumping wonder in his breakthrough season 2015/16 had convinced with first podium results and even a victory in Oslo back then but the by-then 17-year-old also had a series of chaotic mishaps and bad luck like a big crash with Johannes Rydzek, taking the wrong way on course in Lahti or forgetting his transponders. At the end, the season 2016/17 ended early because of repeated problems with his shoulder, which kept dislocating and had to be fixed surgically.

The following year was a hard one for the resident of Oslo but it has made him mature notably and grow as person. Now humble and very much in the know of just how much it cost him to get back to the place that he is now, Riiber kept telling the press that a Top Ten position would be so satisfying for him at the press conferences… at kept returning to said press conferences on the next day.

Probably not even he himself thought it possible to keep his second position in the final 15 km race, a distance that Riiber had never raced before. But in the end, a beaming Riiber crossed the finish line, under the applause of winner Akito Watabe, who always has a special eye, consideration and respect for the achievements of others. The hug between the adversaries couldn’t have been warmer. So they are making history together as well: the first shared “Athlete of the Week” honours. Congratulations to both.