Johannes Thingnes Bö also dominated the sixth biathlon sprint of the season. The Norwegian defied all the tactical gimmicks of the competition. Two athletes from the German team made it into the top 10.
The men’s biathlon sprint has only one winner this season: Johannes Thingnes Bö. The Norwegian also dominated the 10-kilometer sprint in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic on Thursday (March 2nd, 2023) – with a flawless performance, Bö also won the sixth World Cup sprint this season and also celebrated his 15th win of the season. An expression of the Norwegian dominance in men’s biathlon is also: With Tarjei Bö (0 penalties after shooting errors/+ 30.0 seconds) and Vetle Sjastaad Christiansen (1/+1:15.2 minutes), two other Norwegians came in second and three.
Rees best German – only 12.2 seconds missing
The best of the six German starters was Roman Rees, who had to do a penalty loop after a shooting error in prone and ultimately finished eighth (+1:27.4 minutes). The 30-year-old was only 12.2 seconds short of third place. “I’m quite satisfied, it was another very solid start”said Rees after the race in the sports show. “I already had the feeling in training that it was safe to stand up. I shot safely again today. The course really hurt. But the form seems to be right.”
Doll 12th – Kühn long on course for the top 5
Benedikt Doll had two 150-meter penalty loops and finished twelfth (+ 1:45.0 minutes). Justus Strelow was 16th with one penalty (+1:55.8 minutes). Johannes Kühn was in the top 5 until standing, but dropped back to 18th after two penalties and finished 20th outside the top 15. Philipp Nawrath and David Zobel finished 30th and 38th with three penalties.
Doll: “Don’t let the bastard drive you along”
Doll, who announced ahead of the Nove Mesto World Cup that he would like to compete in the Biathlon World Cup for another year, said of the decision: “It wasn’t a liberation. But it’s good that it’s out. I know that I have to stay focused and not let myself be driven by my weaker self who says: ‘Oh, come on, make yourself comfortable’. “ The 32-year-old said of his race: “It worked on the track, but it was just so pointless lying down,” complained the Black Forester about the two misses he made while lying down.”
Competition hopes for weather – squall has to wait a long time
When Bö 16:33 finished first with clean shooting, everything pointed to the Norwegian’s 15th win of the season. The 29-year-old was only allowed to really celebrate about 45 minutes later. Because unlike World Cup dominator Bö, who started the race with start number two and with sunshine, some of the world elite speculated on a course that would get colder and faster after sunset.
Samuelsson and Fillon Maillet’s tactics don’t work
The tactic did not work because of the fabulous performance of the gust and mistakes by the competition. Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson missed three shots, and last year’s overall World Cup winner, Quentin Fillon Maillot, had two penalties in prone and lost all chances of winning with the first shooting. The best of the late-started squall competitors was Fabien Claude, who finished fifth with a shooting error (+ 1:23.0 minutes)
Bö wins the Sprint World Cup early
Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, Johannes Thingnes Bö’s closest pursuer in both the sprint World Cup and the overall World Cup, was not at the start. The 26-year-old had to cancel the start due to a corona infection. Laegreid’s absence brought Bö early victory in the sprint World Cup classification. In the overall World Cup standings, Bö extended his lead to 319 points six races before the end of the season