Boe triumphant in the Pursuit Competition as well

Johannes Thingnes Boe is the man of the hour in biathlon sports. The winner of yesterday’s sprint competition had to do three penalty loops, however, the Norwegian still took a masterful victory with his third season total victory. The second place went to yesterday’s third spot on the podium, Jakov Fak from Slovenia who missed one target under very difficult conditions. The third place went to Martin Fourcade (FRA) who was directly battling Boe at the final standing shooting; yet after three misses he had to go head to head with Simon Schempp in the sprint for the finish. Fourcade took his fifth podium in his fifth race this season.

After a subpar performance in the sprint, as expected, the ÖSV-team could not compete for the podium. Julian Eberhard who started the race with bib number 11 could not go for a top place after missing three targets in the initial prone shooting. However, the 31-year-old improved his performance during the race and thanks to a strong final lap and with a total of four penalty loops, he finished in eleventh place just like yesterday. Despite four misses, Simon Eder was able to go from 35th to 28th place.

*** Responses ***

Johannes Thingnes Boe: “That is the best start for a new season imaginable. The conditions have been difficult but I gave it my best shot and it paid off.“

Jakov Fak: “Missing only one target, considering the weather conditions, was a big advantage. I have done some shooting training with the Ukrainian women’s team and I wanted to be just as good as they are. That has helped me a lot.”

Martin Fourcade: „The final shooting was the deciding factor. In the end it was a tough battle with Simon Schempp; he skied onto my track, our skies crossed. This should not happen and that is why I prefer skiing alone in the lead, so I can avoid such a situation“.

Julian Eberhard: „Of course, it was my goal to improve my result today. However the first shooting was a classic bad start. Biathlon shows that you can never give up; you always have to keep fighting. Given the not ideal circumstances on both days, I believe taking the eleventh place twice was okay. Now it is about gathering all the strength for tomorrow’s relay competition. If everyone performs his best, there are great possibilities.“

Photos: OK Hochfilzen/EXPA/JFK

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