By Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund
TESERO, Italy, Feb 17 (Reuters) – For Norwegian Nordic combined skiers Jens and Einar Luraas Oftebro, competing together at the Winter Olympics means almost as much as winning medals.
This is the first time the brothers have appeared together at an Olympics, after the elder Einar did not participate in the 2022 Beijing Games.
Jens, 25, won Olympic gold in Beijing in the team event and has added two more titles at the current Games, the latest in Tuesday’s 10-kilometre large hill competition.
Einar, 27, produced a strong cross-country leg but ultimately finished sixth, trailing his younger brother by nearly 50 seconds at the finish line before turning his attention to celebrating with Jens.
“Our brothership is really good. I have been supporting Jens the past couple years when he’s been fighting for medals and podiums and he’s been really happy for me when I’ve been up there, actually at my first World Cup podium. If there is someone I want to see succeed, it’s Jens,” he told Reuters.
Einar said he was not surprised to see his brother grab another.
“I knew when I started behind him, I needed really good legs to be able to catch up,” Einar said.
Jens had the better ski jump, placing him fifth for the cross-country race, while Einar started ninth, 22 seconds behind his brother.
“It’s been a really hard for him for several years now with injuries, and he’s been struggling on the jumping hill. Now he’s not doing his best jumps, but still one of the best in the world on the jumping hill,” Jens said.
“I think he will be able to win a medal at some time, it was unfortunate he wasn’t able to do it now.”
The brothers could yet share a podium moment if both are selected for the team sprint on Thursday.
“It’s insane. We have been training this since we were kids. This year with really small quotas, it was really cool to have two brothers, even with three Norwegians. Even though I wasn’t up there fighting for medals, I was really proud to be here with my brother,” Einar said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund, editing by Ed Osmond )
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