The 4×7.5 kilometer relay race at the Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto turned into a nightmare for Norway. Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen completely unexpectedly let the victory that was believed to be certain slip away. The criticism at home is great.
The final runner, Christiansen, came to the final shooting with a lead of over a minute. But there the 31-year-old’s nerves failed him. He had to complete three penalty laps shortly before the end of the race.
Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson took advantage of the dropout, hit all of his shots on target and took the win. Norway had to settle for silver.
After the debacle, Christiansen spoke out. “I take on the role of the scapegoat,” he said on “TV2” and added: “Sometimes we become heroes, sometimes we become sinners. That’s the appeal of top-class sport. Today it was my turn.”
Norwegian biathlon stars “naturally disappointed”
The Norwegian tried to find explanations for his fiasco. “I felt incredibly fit today,” he emphasized. As a result, he ran faster than he actually should. At the shooting range he held his breath for too long. “There was a certain oxygen deficit,” Christiansen said.
Although his teammates openly admitted that they are not satisfied with silver, the Norwegian stars are not angry. “Anything can happen in this sport. But it’s terrible when we’re so far ahead,” said Johannes Thingnes Bø on “TV2”.
His brother Tarjei said: “We are of course disappointed, only gold was good enough.”
Sturla Holm Lægreid emphasized: “We were the favorites and therefore make no secret of the fact that gold was the goal today. I myself was dissatisfied with my performance. There were two athletes who delivered what they were supposed to and two who performed below average delivered.”
The Christiansen joke caused the local TV experts to shake their heads. “I’m a little shocked by what happened. It was a collapse that none of us had expected. That was simply shocking,” said cross-country skiing legend Petter Northug.
Biathlon icon Ole Einar Bjørndalen commented: “This is the wildest thing I’ve ever experienced.”