After her success in the mass start in Ruhpolding, Elvira Öberg is raising hopes of a very successful biathlon world championship in her native Sweden.
“She can win all the competitions in Lenzerheide,” said the biathlon expert Bjorn Ferry the Swedish TV channel “SVT”.
The World Cup in Switzerland is already casting its shadow. Between February 12th and 23rd it’s all about gold, silver and bronze in Lenzerheide.
Elvira Öberg is currently in strong form. The 25-year-old won the mass start in Ruhpolding on Sunday afternoon ahead of Franziska Preuß and Jeanne Richard.
“We saw a real laser focus,” enthused her former teammate Mona Brorsson at SVT: “Elvira Öberg ran an absolutely perfect race. She can take everything from this race for the World Championships.”
Biathlon overall World Cup: Öberg in third place
On Saturday, Öberg made a mistake at the shooting range and had to go into the penalty loop for fifth place in the Swedish relay.
“She can cope with these bad races really well, build up a little anger and then deliver a great race,” praised Brorsson, who also works as a TV expert after retiring from her career.
Öberg did much better in the mass start on Sunday, hitting all 20 of her shots. The 2022 Olympic relay champion is currently in third place in the overall World Cup with 571 points behind Preuß (749) and the French Lou Jeanmonnot (607).
The biathlon team will be visiting Antholz, Italy, in the coming days (January 23rd to 26th). After a short break, the World Championships in Lenzerheide are on the agenda. Öberg is still waiting for her first World Cup gold medal. According to Ferry and Brorsson, the Swedish ski hunter is ready for the big coup.