A higher level of competition. A deeper field of rivals. And the familiar result for Tara Geraghty-Moats: victory.
The West Fairlee 27-year-old made history on Friday by winning the first-ever women’s FIS World Cup Nordic combined ski meet in Ramsau, Austria. The event — consisting of one jump off a 98-meter ramp followed by a 5-kilometer freestyle cross country ski race — had originally been scheduled for Lillehammer, Norway, in early December but was postponed by COVID-19 restrictions, then eventually moved and reset for Austria.
Friday’s event was the latest progression in a sport for which Geraghty-Moats has fought for World Cup and Olympic recognition. The latter is still a work in progress, but in addition to a limited World Cup schedule this winter, women will compete in Nordic combined for the first time at this season’s FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in February in Oberstdorf, Germany. Nordic combined remains the only sport without a women’s division in the Olympic program.
“Coming into this competition I was really uncertain of myself because I hadn’t put a bib on in 10 months,” Geraghty-Moats in a USA Nordic news release. “And I had only 10% of my ski jumping training I had hoped to have. But all day long I just kept telling myself that I could do it — every step at a time.”
Geraghty-Moats’ latest ski success mirrored those she earned while winning the last two FIS Continental Cup Nordic combined championships. She trailed after the jumping portion of the meet but then made up the difference with her superior cross country skiing.
Geraghty-Moats sat in sixth place out of 32 competitors after the jumping portion. She covered 86.5 meters and scored 53 points with her one attempt, with a score that converted to a 39-second gap between her and Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen, who won the jump with 69 points and a top distance of 94.5 meters.
As she did the last two years in Continental Cup, Geraghty-Moats picked off everyone ahead of her on the cross country trail. She completed the two-lap loop in 13 minutes, 19.3 seconds, beating the second-fastest skier, Japan’s Anju Nakamura, by 23 seconds. More importantly, Geraghty-Moats time was 40.5 seconds better than Westvold Hansen, giving her a 1.5-second overall victory.
“It was something I’ve dreamed about since I was 10 years old — before it was even a possibility,” Geraghty-Moats said. “Just a huge thanks to my team and FIS for finally inviting the women to the big leagues.”
Geraghty-Moats’ competitive Nordic combined schedule remains in flux because of the coronavirus. The only other women’s FIS World Cup Nordic combined meet on the schedule, at Otepaa, Estonia, on Jan. 1-3, has also been canceled by the pandemic, leaving the World Championships the only other confirmed women’s Nordic combined event on the calendar for the time being.