The Norwegian men delivered a spectacle at the individual biathlon in Östersund. Shooting coach Siegfried Mazet then explained the formula for success.
With winner Johan-Olav Botn, Martin Uldal (2nd), Sivert Bakken (4th) and Sturla Holm Laegreid (5th), four Norwegians landed in the top five places at the individual biathlon in Östersund, Sweden.
“We knew that the wind would be calm and that the victory in this case was 19 out of 20 or 20 out of 20 [Treffern am Schießstand] would depend,” successful coach Mazet then gave an insight into the tactics on “La chaîne L’Équipe”.
The 47-year-old explained: “That’s why we had to at least try to get to the last stop with 15 good shots in order to create a kind of safety net for the last shooting. The goal was not to panic, to place our shots well and to do solid work without getting carried away.”
In fact, the Norwegian men took their time at the shooting range. The result proved them right. Botn and Uldal remained error-free. Bakken and Laegreid each hit 19 of their 20 attempts.
Norwegian biathlon “machine” celebrates its debut victory
Botn secured victory in only his sixth World Cup appearance. “Botn is a machine. He’s not human. He said he had a bit of a sore throat and was in his room, but then he scores 20 hits and is the fastest, so it’s hard to say what this man is made of,” said overall World Cup winner Laegreid on “NRK” as he tipped his hat to his teammate. “I’m at a loss for words,” said Botn himself on “TV2”.
The biathlon stars continue in Östersund with the sprint (Saturday) and the final pursuit (Sunday). The World Cup entourage then sets off for Hochfilzen in Austria.