Severin Freund of Germany in action in the Large Hill Individual event at the Ski Jumping World Cup at the Holmenkollen Ski Arena in Oslo on Sunday. (Reuters)

DPA/Oslo

Germany’s Severin Freund won the Ski Jumping World Cup in Oslo on Sunday to claim his second victory in two days at the Holmenkollen large hill in the Norwegian capital.
Earlier Marit Bjoergen led a Norwegian sweep of the podium places before home fans in the last World Cup cross-country ski race of the season.
Freund leapt 132 metres and 128m for 258.9 points to claim the win ahead of Japanese veteran Noriaki Kasai on 254.9 (128.5m and 128.5m). Reigning Olympic champion Kamil Stoch (124m and 134m) and Slovenia’s Peter Prevc (121.5m and 134.5m), Freund’s main challenger for the overall title, shared third on 251.5.
It was Freund’s fourth consecutive World Cup victory and ninth of the season. It puts him in a commanding position at the top of the standings on 1,643 points, with Prevc trailing by 94, with only two events remaining.
“I’m definitely not unbeatable,” Freund said. “Here I was jumping well, but everything else worked out perfectly as well. You have to fight hard for every win.”
The ski jumping season concludes with two individual competitions and a team event in Planica, Slovenia, March 20-22.
The six-time Olympic and 14-time world champion Bjoergen posted 1 hour 14 minutes 10.5 seconds in the 30-kilometre freestyle mass start race, 11.5 seconds ahead of Therese Johaug after attacking on the final incline at Holmenkollen.
Astrid Jacobsen kept the Norwegian flags flying as she crossed the line 44.5 seconds back.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla was off the podium in fourth, with Norway’s success completed by Heidi Weng and Ragnhild Haga tied for fifth and Martina Ek Hagen seventh.
Bjoergen, already assured of the overall World Cup title, finished the season on 2,172 points, with Johaug clinching second spot 1,388, ahead of Weng on 1,332.
“I knew that I had a strong finish and relied on that,” Bjoergen said. “But after 30km you never know. It is great to end the season with the victory.
It was the last race before retirement for 37-year-old Claudia Nysted, Germany’s most successful cross-country skier, who bid farewell to fans with a leisurely run in last place.