Oslo (AP) – At the end of his long career, biathlete Erik Lesser showed another furious race and only just missed the third podium place of his final season.
Because the 33-year-old made two penalties in his favorite prone discipline of all things in the mass start in Oslo, he missed the podium by just a few seconds one day after his sensational victory in the pursuit, finishing fourth.
In the first victory of the Norwegian Sivert Guttorm Bakken in front of his teammate and sprint winner Sturla Holm Laegreid, Lesser only had to admit defeat to the strong sprinter Emilien Jacquelin from France in the last meters. At the finish he was welcomed by his partner Nadine and daughter Anouk before his teammates and many competitors paid their respects to him.
At the World Cup finals at the legendary Holmenkollen, Philipp Nawrath also made it into the top ten in fifth place and David Zobel in eighth place. Benedikt Doll had to miss the last race of the season because of cold symptoms, and there is currently no evidence of a corona infection.
For the German men’s team, the season ends with a total of nine podium finishes, with Johannes Kühn, Benedikt Doll and Lesser taking care of three victories. The Olympic Games were disappointing, with national coach Mark Kirchner’s team not winning a medal for the second time since 2010.