There was a big fair play gesture at the biathlon individual in Östersund on Wednesday afternoon.
What had happened? When the German ski hunter Philipp Nawrath ran off the mat after his last shooting, the Slovenian Lovro Planko accidentally stepped on his stick, which the DSV athlete promptly lost. Planko showed himself to be a fair sportsman and gave Nawrath his own stick as an apology.
“In the last round I stepped on Nawrath’s stick and the only fair solution seemed to me to give him mine. That’s why I had a bit of problems in the last round, but fair play comes first,” the Slovenian newspaper “Siol” quoted the 24-year-old as saying, who himself received a replacement shortly after the mishap.
Planko ultimately finished the biathlon individual in Östersund in 21st place with two shooting errors. Nawrath also made two errors and finished 13th. The best German was Philipp Horn (two errors) in eighth place.
“In the first round I felt a bit sleepy myself, but luckily for me the German Nawrath and the Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid passed by and I completed two rounds with them. My legs were shaking slightly twice at the shooting range, but a 90 percent hit rate is an excellent result for me. And I’m also happy with my placement, especially after last season,” said Planko, summing up his performance.
Biathlon: Norway Gala in Sweden
Norwegian Johan-Olav Botn secured victory on Wednesday afternoon with a flawless performance. Martin Uldal (2nd), Sivert Bakken (4th) and Sturla Holm Laegreid (5th) rounded off the strong performance for the winter sports nation. The Swede Sebastian Samuelsson came in third.
The best biathletes in the world continue in Östersund with the sprint (Saturday) and the final pursuit (Sunday).