The countdown has begun: The first Olympic biathlon race will take place in Antholz on Sunday. The Swedish team completed its first training session on the course on Wednesday. Head coach Johannes Lukas says: His team is already feeling at home.
The Swedish team led by Johannes Lukas is happy that this year’s Olympic races are taking place on a route that his team already knows inside out. Things were completely different in Beijing four years ago.
“Back then there were more question marks than answers. Now it feels as if we hardly have any question marks,” said Lukas, satisfied about the venue in an interview with “SVT” after the first training session on Wednesday.
“It’s so much easier for us. We’re coping well with the course,” said the head coach, who also explained that he and his team had moved into rooms in a hotel that they had also known for years. “It’s like a feeling of security.”
What to expect from the Swedish biathlon team?
The most important thing in the first training session was to get to grips with everything, says Lukas. “The most important thing for us was to set up the rifles correctly, get used to everything, do a few quiet shooting series, feel the breathing and get a good feeling from day one.” Now he’s looking forward to “a few days of good training” until it finally starts on Sunday.
What can be expected from the Swedish team at the Olympics is difficult to answer. Hanna and Elvira Öberg were already at the top of the podium this season, but they also had weaker races from time to time. Overall, the French women were stronger.
In the men’s race, Sebastian Samuelsson and Martin Ponsiluoma are the big medal hopes. They too have had a winter with ups and downs. Things went downhill for Samuelsson just before the Olympics when he had one of the worst races of his career in Nove Mesto.
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