Watabe wins season’s 2nd title in Nordic combined World Cup

January 29, 2018

Seefeld, Austria- Japan's Akito Watabe won the first leg of a Nordic combined World Cup triple event in Austria on Friday, capturing his second individual title this season.

The victory, following one in Ruka, Finland, in November, was the 11th career World Cup victory for Watabe, 29, who will make his fourth Olympic appearance at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next month.

In the ski jumping phase, Watabe, a member of Kitano Construction Corp.'s ski club, leaped 104.5 meters and came second after Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber. Overcoming an initial 21-second time difference in the subsequent 5-kilometer cross-country skiing race, Watabe finished 0.5 second ahead of Riiber.

"Candidly, I'm happy as I had not won here before," Watabe said of the victory, his first in Austria.

With the overall World Cup title within reach, Watabe set his sights on the rest of the triple event this weekend. "Today's (race) was a run-up to tomorrow's. If I win tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, I will be able to think I have gained real ability," he said. Jiji Press