A few weeks before the start of the season, Sweden’s biathlon star Sebastian Samuelsson is making big noises. The Olympic champion is aiming for the overall World Cup and has tweaked a few things in training this summer. If the project goes wrong, plan B takes effect.
From 28th to 6th to 3rd place: Sebastian Samuelsson has made impressive progress in the overall biathlon world cup over the past three years. The relay Olympic champion from 2018 is far from satisfied with that.
“Of course, when you finish third, you also want to win. I want the overall World Cup and I think I have a good chance this winter,” Samuelsson sent in an interview with the French newspaper “Le Dauphine” an announcement to the competition.
In order to put his plan into action, the Swede mainly worked on his shooting performance in the summer. This had cost him a better placement several times in the previous year. “I was really good at running last year, but my shooting performance was a bit weaker. That’s why I focused on it and worked on my hit rate and shooting speed,” revealed Samuelsson.
Samuelsson now wants to find out why his hit rate went down last winter. His answer: It was a head problem. “Before Christmas I was fighting for the yellow jersey and then it suddenly becomes a mental thing on the shooting range. It was new to me and it made me shoot weaker. It was frustrating never finding the right feeling. With that I had problems all last season.”
Samuelsson targets biathlon overall World Cup
Today the Swede is not only confident that he has solved these problems. Samuelsson is also adamant that he can play a major role in the battle for the big crystal ball.
“My main goal is the overall World Cup. I want to perform in every race, every weekend. And if I’m good, I can [im Weltcup] play a role,” said the 25-year-old, who has already come up with a plan B should his project not succeed.
“If I see in January that I no longer have a chance in the overall World Cup, I will reconsider my plan,” he replied when asked whether he would only concentrate on the World Cup or also the World Championships. In the end, success in the World Cup does not rule out success at the World Championships, said Samuelsson: “If I’m good in the World Cup, nothing prevents me from being good at the World Championships too.”