New year, old picture: Johannes Thingnes Bö also outruns everyone in the sprint on the Pokljuka and takes his sixth World Cup victory this season. Benedikt Doll just missed the podium.
Bö made a mistake on Friday (January 6th, 2023), but was able to easily iron it out thanks to his outstanding running performance on the 10-kilometer route (23:55.9 minutes). For the Norwegian it was already the fourth victory in the fourth sprint race in this World Cup season.
Bö brothers celebrate double victory
With Tarjei, the second of the Bö brothers also landed on the podium. Unlike his younger brother, he shot clean but still finished 48.1 seconds back. “I trained with my brother over Christmas. Tarjei was even a bit better there“, the day’s winner smiled afterwards on ZDF. Sturla Holm Laegreid made the Norwegian festival perfect in third place (1 error / +55.6 seconds).
Doll cannot prevent Norwegian podium
The best German in the first race of the new year was Benedikt Doll, who in fourth just missed his second World Cup podium this season by just eight seconds (1/+1:03.3 minutes). “Finishing in the top six is always a good achievement. I am very satisfied, even though the competition was very strenuous. So I’m glad the hard work paid off“, Doll assessed his performance.
Roman Rees also made it into the top ten with eighth place (1/+1:17.9). Philipp Horn (29th), Justus Strelow (41st) and Johannes Kühn (44th) landed well behind, all of whom gave a good starting position for the pursuer on Saturday. Kühn in particular once again showed himself to be prone to making mistakes at the shooting range and had four penalties. Zobel finished 74th and is only a spectator of the pursuer.
Doll narrowly missed ten direct hits
Doll started well with bib two, shooting fast and clean in prone. As strong as ever on the cross-country ski run, the Black Forester came to the shooting range a second time with a lot of hope. This time, the third shot, which missed by a hair’s breadth, failed him.
Benedikt Doll in Pokljuka missed his second podium this season in the sprint in Pokljuka.
“Shooting was a little too hesitant. If you aim for too long, it doesn’t get any better,” analyzed Doll: “The zero should still be there at regular intervals.”
Rees: “More would have been possible”
Rees wasn’t quite as fast as Doll on the first loop, but his five rounds all found their way to the target on the first shooting. On the second lap he showed a good track performance. All the more bitter that the first shot in the standing position went wrong.
“It went better than expected. I didn’t have the opportunity to go skiing over Christmas and New Year’s” Rees said afterwards. “In shooting, more would have been possible without the one mistake. So it was a hopeful start to the new season.“