Johannes Thingnes Bö, Emilien Jacquelin and Sturla Holm Laegreid deliver a thrilling race in the biathlon pursuit at the World Cup in Hochfilzen. In the end Bö celebrates again – albeit somewhat controversially – and stays in the yellow jersey. Philipp Nawrath makes it into the top 10 again.
As in his sprint victory the day before, the Norwegian made a mistake and won the race on Saturday (December 14th, 2024) with a 3.5 second lead over the Frenchman Jacquelin (1 mistake). Bö’s compatriot Laegreid came third (+3.8 seconds/1 error).
The trio had an exciting final round, in which Bö ultimately had the longer stamina. The final climb was crucial, when Bö stepped on his opponent Jacquelin’s skis during an overtaking maneuver and then ran to victory. The Frenchman immediately left the finish area after the race.
“It was a lot of hard work. I had no chance of not catching him on the skis,” Bö described the scene afterwards on ZDF. “He wanted to cut the curve a little, it was his own mistake.”
From a German perspective, Philipp Nawrath was once again convincing and, like the day before, finished the race in eighth place after two mistakes. Strelow was also able to improve after finishing 17th in the sprint and came 13th with two missed shots.
Nawraths and Strelow remain within striking distance
After his good sprint the day before, Nawrath also had a chance of getting his second podium finish this winter in the pursuit. He was 22 seconds behind Johannes Thingnes Bö, who was the first to go onto the trail. Third place was only 15 seconds away. However, the first shot from the prone position missed and the deficit continued to grow. Strelow did better, hit all the targets and moved up a few places.
Bö had previously started furiously at the front. As expected, the Norwegian showed a high pace in the first round and followed up with a faultless series at the shooting range. Only Laegreid remained in the chasing group without a miss and within striking distance. Afterwards, the two Scandinavians also showed nerves of steel and cleared all the targets. Strelow and Nawrath also managed this and left the shooting range tied in sixth and seventh place – 51 seconds behind the leaders.
Excitement in the last round
However, with Martin Uldal, Sebastian Samuelsson and Emilien Jacquelin, the competition for the podium places was tough. By the third shooting, this time standing, the trio had caught up with Bö and Laegreid. This time Bö made a mistake, Laegreid made no mistakes and took the lead. Nawrath with one miss and Strelow with two were unable to take advantage of the chance and even lost ground.
At the front, before the final standing test, a three-way battle broke out between Laegreid, Bö and Jacquelin for the day’s victory. It remained incredibly exciting. All three had to go into the penalty loop after making a mistake and started the final lap almost at the same time. In the end, Bö was able to win the race – but not without some excitement: On a climb, Bö stepped on Jacquelin’s skis, which caused him to stumble. But the Frenchman was still able to narrowly save second place.
At the end, Nawrath and Strelow once again showed strong nerves and remained error-free. The podium was no longer within reach at this point.
Relays at the end
At the end of the World Cup in Hochfilzen, the women’s and men’s relays are on the program on Sunday (11.30 a.m./2.15 p.m. in the Sportschau live ticker), before we head to Annecy, France, for the end of the year.