Sometimes memories are deceptive. It feels like the decision to win the overall Biathlon World Cup for men in the past ten years has rarely been characterized by great tension. Hardly once did more than two athletes have a realistic chance of being at the top at the end of a long season.
Wasn’t it the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö and before him Martin Fourcade from France who dominated the ski hunter scene for a decade?
Only two winners in ten years
Almost true! Between 2011/12 and 2017/18, the person wearing the yellow jersey was named Martin Fourcade seven times in a row. The Frenchman, who also won five Olympic gold and 13 world championship titles, regularly kept his competitors at a distance. Only in his last triumph did the up-and-coming Johannes Thingnes Bö come within 89 points of the high-flyer from the Pyrenees.
In the 2018/19 season, Bö succeeded in changing the guard. The Norwegian has been the best biathlete of the winter three times since then – it was really close in 2019/2020 when Bö succeeded in a heartbeat final with two points ahead of Fourcade, who then announced his retirement from professional sport.
Bad changing of the guard – but twice it was very close
Last season too, Bö won – this time with only 13 points ahead of his compatriot Sturla Holm Laegreid. So the fight for the yellow jersey was rarely really close. Hardly once did the leader’s shirt change hands in the overall World Cup.
This winter is completely different: the lead changed several times in the overall standings. And after almost half the season, no fewer than seven athletes still have a realistic chance of winning this time.
Fillon Maillet, Christiansen and Co. chase Jacquelin
The current leader, Emilien Jacquelin from France, has just 61 points more than Johannes Thingnes Bö in seventh place. 60 points are awarded for a win – so it can happen very quickly that the order in the ranking changes again. Every small dropout, a few unfocused seconds at the shooting range or a little health problem can be fatal.
Another change in leadership in Oberhof?
At the weekend, the “heptathlon” for the title of best biathlete will start a new round. Emilien Jacquelin (currently 371 points) wants to try to defend his place. His compatriot Quentin Fillon Maillet (369), Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (Norway / 347), Sebastian Samuelsson (Sweden / 344), Eduard Latipow (Russia / 336) as well as Tarjei Bö (Norway / 320) and his brother Johannes Thingnes Bö (Norway / 310) are only waiting for the mistakes of the competition.