Other Sports

Kasai Twins Finish 1-3 in World Nordic Combined

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Yuna Kasai, center, and twin sister Haruka, right, pose on the medal podium after their 1-3 finish n Thursday in Trondheim, Norway.

By Kosuke Fukui / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

15:03 JST, February 28, 2025

TRONDHEIM, Norway — Yuna Kasai won the gold to lead a Japanese 1-3 finish with twin sister Haruka in the women’s mass start normal hill event in the Nordic combined at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships on Thursday in Trondheim, Norway.

Yuna Kasai became Japan’s first-ever individual women’s gold medalist at the Nordic worlds, and the first overall since Kazuyoshi Funaki triumphed in the men’s normal hill ski jump in 1999.

Kasai finished third in the 5-kilometer mass start cross-country ski portion, but leaped into the top spot with a ski jump of 96.5 meters for a total of 121.0 points.

Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen finished second with 118.7 points, with Haruka Kasai taking home her second consecutive world bronze medal with 115.6 points.

“It’s not easy for both of us to win medals,” Yuna said. “It makes it twice as thrilling, so this was the best day ever.”

The Sapporo-native Kasai twins, both students at Waseda University, have developed a high-level but friendly sibling rivalry that is pushing both higher.

Haruka has earned podium spots in seven of the 12 World Cup competitions this season, while Yuna secured her first with a victory on Feb. 7 in Otepaa, Estonia, in a 1-2 finish for the twins.

The women’s Nordic combined, which is not on the Olympic program, made its debut at the Nordic worlds in 2021.