Fourcade takes gold, 45th World Championship medal for Björndalen

Frenchman Martin Fourcade demonstrated his dominance today and delivered a great show to the 19.600 fans.

In the Pursuit he took his first gold medal of the World Championships in Hochfilzen.
After winning silver with the team and bronze at the sprint race he completed his collection of medals. The fight for the second place was between the two Norwegian athletes Johannes Thingnes Boe and Ole Einar Björndalen who until the end fought a duel of the generations. Although he had to run three penalty loops he in the end caught up to the record holder and finally overtook him. For Björndalen it was the 45th medal in his amazing carrier. The Austrians were not able to intervene in the result: Julian Eberhard especially had problems on the shooting range – in comparison to the sprint he lost one place and finished the race at position eight. Thank’s to a good performance on the loop Simon Eder made it to place 12 which means he improved himself by 10 positions. Dominik Landertinger fell short and finished 21st.

Martin Fourcade (FRA): “It was a really good day for me. I think there is nothing like crossing the finish line being in first place and knowing that you have won. It is more open – this is why I prefer the Pursuit.  I was just so satisfied winning in front of this amazing crowd. I was aiming for one gold medal – now I achieved this goal and I am hoping for the upcoming competitions. My focus will be on the Men’s Relay.”

Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR): “Today is quite a better feeling because after the race yesterday I felt so tired. It is more fun winning silver than loosing gold. I was not sure if I would be able to catch Ole because he looked quite strong but I think he didn’t have his best day.  Before the last shooting I saw that the others made mistakes too – I wanted to fight and was happy to find the necessary energy in the last loop.”

Ole Einar Björndalen (NOR): “I am really happy – it’s like a victory for me! It was a really good race and my first podium this year. Darya (Domracheva) winning silver before motivated me. I think biathlon has changed a lot over the past 13 years and many good athletes are able to be on the podium now. I hope I can improve my performance until the end of this championship to get this great feeling again. “

12/02/2017 Pursuit Men

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