Nathalie Armbruster won silver twice at the World Championships. She was also second in the overall World Cup. At the end of a “fantastic” season, the student is now back to normal.
Nathalie Armbruster sits at the dining table with Mama Susi and watches cell phone videos. Again and again they conjure up a big grin on the 17-year-old’s face. “When I see that, I always ask myself: is that really me?” says the double runner-up at the Nordic Combined World Champion while enjoying her World Championship run on the display again.
Armbruster wins two silver medals at World Championship premiere
“I’m just so happy that I managed to jump on the last mountain like that,” Nathalie gushes out, “I have no idea where the strength came from, I couldn’t take it anymore, but I just thought: Now I have to go full attack and throw everything into the balance and then it worked.” And how: Armbruster won silver in her very first World Championship race – it was the first medal by a German combined athlete in international title fights.
Two days later, the woman from the Black Forest crowned her premiere World Championships with the second medal: Armbruster also celebrated silver in the mixed team – together with Jenny Nowak, Vinzenz Geiger and Julian Schmid. The fact that the high-flyer was allowed to carry the German flag together with Vinzenz Geiger at the opening ceremony was the icing on the cake of a “fantastic” week.
Kepler-Gymnasium gives Armbruster an emotional welcome
So far, the student Nathalie has not had time to process all of this. From Planica we went straight to Berlin on a class trip. There the 17-year-old enjoyed the rare time with her friends.
Back at the Kepler-Gymnasium in Freudenstadt, a very special surprise awaited: around 1,000 students gave the double world runner-up an emotional welcome – big band and posters included. “We just want to recognize what she achieves,” says headmaster Hermann Kaupp, adding: “It’s just phenomenal.” Nathalie, who knew nothing of all this, was visibly touched. “It’s so incredibly cool when you come back and so many people are happy for you. That was so incredibly appreciative.”
Armbruster is looking forward to spending time with her family
After the successful World Championships and the season finale in Oslo, where Nathalie secured second place in the overall World Cup, there is now a bit of calm at Armbruster – even if the Black Forest native would like to have five more competitions, as she says.
But of course there is also a lot, which is why Nathalie is looking forward to “just spending time with my family, my friends and my animals”. There will certainly be time to watch the videos from Planica from time to time.
