The French individual world champion Eric Perrot achieved a podium finish at the “Sesongstart” in Norway. The fact that it wasn’t enough to win wasn’t due to his performance at the shooting range, the biathlon star said afterwards.
Biathlete Eric Perrot looks back with satisfaction on his third place in the sprint at the “Sesongstart” in Geilo. “I’m happy that I drove a decent race,” he told La Chaine L’Équipe afterwards. Johan-Olav Botn and Isak Frey took first and second place at their home game.
On Saturday, 24-year-old Perrot was able to rely primarily on his strengths at the shooting range. The reigning individual world champion made no mistakes both standing and lying down. “My shots were really good, I’m very happy with that,” he emphasized.
Perrot sees room for improvement on the cross-country ski trail. Because: The gap to the winner Botn, who also made no shooting mistakes, was ultimately 16 seconds. A possible reason could have been the “cold weather” in Geilo, said Perrot: “The beginning of winter slowed me down a bit. We’re not used to it yet and I have the feeling that it set me back a bit.” During the warm-up run he was not able to use his “full performance”.
Perrot takes the “positive aspects” with him
The traditional “Sesongstart” is considered an important indicator of the season in the biathlon nation of Norway. After the sprint on Saturday there will be a mass start on Sunday. On November 29th, the best ski hunters will compete against each other in the World Cup, the first stop being Östersund in Sweden.
Until then, Perrot wants to take the “many positive aspects” from his race in Norway. At the same time, it is “not a bad thing that there is still a lot to be improved for the future.”
In the last biathlon overall World Cup, Eric Perrot had already impressively proven himself by finishing third. For the new season he is considered one of the favorites to win the Big Crystal Ball.