Norway’s Riiber soaring this ski season

Jarl Magnus Riiber might be the most dominant athlete in any sport right now.

If Nordic combined wasn’t a niche sport, popular in countries such as Germany and Austria while mostly overlooked elsewhere, the world would be well aware of what Riiber has been doing since October.

The 26-year-old Riiber will close a spectacular and record-breaking season Sunday in his native Norway, likely soaring past the competition in ski jumping to start a 10-kilometre cross-country course with a big lead to set up another victory.

Riiber enters the competition at Trondheim with a record 12 straight World Cup wins in events he entered and a record 16 victories this season — breaking his previous marks — to increase his record-breaking career total to 73 since his first in 2016.

“I’m very proud of this season,” Riiber said. “We’re putting every experience together to make good results with lots of consistency. This is the most fun part. We are in control.

“But now is not the time to focus on everything we have done. It’s more like, what is next? Hopefully after my career, I can look back more at what I have done.”

With a fifth World Cup championship wrapped up earlier this season, Riiber began looking ahead to the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Trondheim on his home hill and course.

“It will be like the biggest thing I will be a part of in my career,” he said. “We have it every second year, and it’s much bigger than the Olympics.

Riiber will be very motivated to win at the 2026 Milan-cortina Olympics in Italy. He went into the Beijing Olympics two years ago as the favourite and left with a heartbreaking result.

After testing positive for COVID-19 in China, he was in isolation for about two weeks and had less than 24 hours to prepare for the final Nordic combined event. Unfamiliar with the cross-country course, he took a wrong turn to lose his cushion and lead before fading to an eighth-place finish.

“Olympic gold is the last thing I have missed in my career,” he said softly.

On the FIS Nordic combined World Cup circuit, he is in rarefied air.

Hannu Manninen of Finland had a record 48 wins until Riiber surpassed him two years ago.