Jens Luras Oftebro
Norway
Nordic Combined
Overall Ranks
#6 among Norwegian Olympians
#1 among Nordic Combined athletes
Olympic Results
2022
Team - Gold
Sprint - Silver
2026
Team - Gold
Individual - Gold
Sprint - Gold
Total
Events - 6
Gold - 4
Silver - 1
Jens Christian Luras Oftebro was born on July 21, 2000 in Oslo, Norway. His older brother, Einar, won a silver medal at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, and Jens followed his brother into the sport. He competed in the 2017 and 2018 Junior World Championships, earning a bronze medal in the relay in 2018.
By 2021, he was competing in the adult World Championships, earning an individual bronze and a team gold, and had surpassed his brother by making his first Olympic team in 2022. His first event was the Individual, in which the competitors ski jump off the normal hill, then run a 10 km cross-country ski race, with the ski jump leaders getting a head start. He was 20th after the ski jump, but finished in 10th place after the race, the first and only time so far that he has failed to medal in an Olympic event.
His next event was the Sprint, which is just like the Individual, but with the ski jump taking place on the large hill instead. He was in 10th place heading into the race portion, nearly 2 minutes behind the leader, who had a 44 second lead over the field to start the race. That lead was erased by a wrong turn at the end of the first lap, and by the start of the final lap, Oftebro and his countryman Jorgen Graabak were only 12 second behind the leaders. Both made a strong push on the final straightaway, with Graabak edging out Oftebro by 0.4 seconds, giving the 21-year-old a silver medal.
In the team event, Norway was one of the favorites after winning the previous year's World Championship, and they were in second place after the jumping portion. The top 4 teams remained in a tight pack through the first two laps, but Oftebro posted the fastest time of the day to give Norway a 10 second lead heading into the final lap, which was run by Graabak, who extended the lead to give Norway an easy gold medal.
He won the World Cup Best Skier Trophy in both 2023 and 2025, and was expected to contend for medals in 2026. He started again with the Individual, landing in 7th place after the ski jump, then surging to the lead with a lap to go before holding on to upset Johannes Lamparter of Austria, the pre-race favorite, to win his first solo gold medal.
Next up was the Sprint, where he was defending silver medalist, and since Graabak had retired, he was the top returning competitor. He was #5 after the ski jump, but he caught up to the leaders and passed them before the halfway point, and was never seriously challenged for the rest of the race, ending up nearly 6 seconds ahead of Lamparter at the end.
The team event came last, and it was shortened from a 4x5km relay to a 2x7.5km for the first time. Oftebro and Andreas Skoglund competed for Norway, coming in #2 in the ski jump portion, which put them 13 seconds behind Germany heading into the skiing. Skoglund took the lead early and maintained it through the handoff, and Oftebro led for most of his lap, though he was challenged by the Finnish skier at the end, but was able to hold him off to win by 0.5 seconds, giving him a slim win for his third gold medal.
By winning all 3 events, Oftebro became the second Nordic Combined competitor in history to earn 3 golds in the same Olympics. Add in his previous gold and silver, and he has shown that he is already one of the greatest Olympians of all time, and at 25 years old, he probably has plenty of time to continue to climb the rankings.
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