Austria's Rehrl leads Olympic Nordic combined after jumping portion

Pyeongchang, South Korea (dpa) - Austria‘s Franz-Josef Rehrl took the lead after the Olympic Nordic combined normal hill event on Wednesday but the favourites are not far behind.Rehrl soared 112 metres in windy conditions and will enter the 10-kilometres cross-country pursuit later in the day 15 seconds ahead of Norway‘s Jarl Magnus Riiber who had 111m.World Cup leader Akito Watabe is third with a deficit of 28 seconds and the 2014 gold medallist Eric Frenzel fifth, 36 seconds behind. Also in with a chance owing to his skiing skills is German four-time 2017 world champion Johannes Rydzek who trails by 1:26 minutes in 11th place.In Nordic combined individual events the athletes have one jump, with the points converted into times for the cross-country pursuit where the first across the line is the winner.