The opening competitions of the 2025-26 men’s Nordic Combined World Cup season got underway over the weekend in Ruka, Finland.
Despite windy, wet and challenging conditions, the event was held — albeit an abridged version. Three of four ski jumping days were canceled, and the provisional competition round, originally set for Thursday, was held Friday.
“It was definitely a hard weekend weather-wise,” said competitor and Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club alum Niklas Malacinski. “Was out-of-the-norm for what we’ve seen from Finland recently.”
Friday was a full day, with an individual large-scale compact race and provisional round. Saturday was taken up by the individual Gundersen large hill race. Ultimately, due to weather, the individual mass-start large-hill event scheduled for Sunday was canceled.
Malacinski finished 32nd, and another SSWSC alum, Eric Lynch, finished 44th on Friday. Two other U.S. athletes, Carter Brubaker and Ben Loomis, finished 50th and 26th, respectively.
Saturday, Malacinski finished in spot No. 42, Lynch in spot No. 47 and Brubaker in spot No. 50. Loomis did not start Saturday.
While the weather was less-than-ideal, Malacinski was also contending with his own body.
“I had a rocky preparation season and went into the weekend tired,” explained Malacinski. “My body feels good for jumping, but it is still a work in progress for skiing.”
He hopes to get better in each event leading up to the February Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
“It’s about being 5% better each race,” Malacinski said. “The Olympics is the goal.”
He is taking advantage of the cancellation by working in an extra rest day before the upcoming race in Trondheim, Norway. Both men and women will compete at the event this weekend, where he potentially will compete alongside his sister Annika.
“We’re prioritizing quality recovery,” said Malacinski. “It’s a long season, and we’re just getting started.”