Parking BEFORE 08.30 am!
20.02.2020 - Norway remains strongest also in single mixed relay
Thursday the Südtirol Arena Alto Adige in Anterselva hosted one of the most spectacular competitions of this Biathlon World Championships: the single mixed relay.
At the end the title went to the Norwegian biathletes, Germany and France achieved Silver and Bronze.
As far as the mixed relay with two athletes is concerned, there seems to be only one nation at World Champion's level: Norway. After the first time this discipline was run in a World Championship, in Östersund last year, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Marte Olsbu Røiseland secured Gold also at Anterselva. For both it is the second team title at this World Championships as they also won the mixed relay. On the whole, for Bø it is the fourth medal in Anterselva, whereas Røiseland stood on the podium in all of the five races.
Germany braves Norway
Norway had to fear for its title up to the last shooting session. The two German athletes stood up to the successful Scandinavians over the whole distance until Erik Lesser missed a target in the last standing shooting. Bø took advantage of the reloading of his rival and ran towards Gold. Lesser and the very strong Franziska Preuss achieved rank two and were celebrated by the numerous German fans in the Südtirol Arena Alto Adige for the third black-red-gold medal in Anterselva.
Third place went to the pursuit World Champion Emilien Jacquelin and his French team mate Anais Bescond, who caught up with the Swedes and the Swiss at the last changeover.
Wierer and Hofer blunder in the shooting range
For the hosting nation, which was one of the favourites, it was a pitch-dark day: with 13 shooting mistakes they ruined a strong running performance. Especially Dorothea Wierer displayed an unusual weakness. She had to reload eight times and even absolve a penalty loop. In the end, Italy was the only nation to make it into the top 10 with a penalty loop. As Lukas Hofer also had to reload five times to hit all targets, the Italian team had to content themselves with place nine.
Results Single Mixed Relay World Championships Antholz (Friday, 20 February 2020)
1. Norway (Marte Olsbu Roeiseland/Johannes Thingnes Boe) 34.19,9 (0+6)
2. Germany (Franziska Preuss/Erik Lesser) +17,6 (0+5)
3. France (Anais Bescond/Emilien Jacquelin) +29,8 (0+4)
4. Sweden (Hanna Oeberg/Sebastian Samuelsson) +35,2 (0+7)
5. Switzerland (Lena Haecki/Benjamin Weger) +40,6 (0+9)
6. Austria (Lisa Theresa Hauser/Simon Eder) +54,5 (0+4)
7. Russia (Larissa Kuklina/Matvey Eliseev) +1.00,5 (0+6)
8. Canada (Emma Lunder/Vhristian Gow) +1.03,4 (0+7)
9. Italy (Dorothea Wierer/Lukas Hofer) +1.15,3 (1+13)
10. Ukraine (Anastasiya Merkushyna/Dmytro Pidruchnyi) +1.27,2 (0+8)
Comments on the race:
Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway (1st place): "We are overjoyed. For me it is the fourth medal, for Marte the fifth. Once again, today we displayed a flawless performance. Let's hope that we can keep doing the same the next days as well."
Erik Lesser, Germany (2nd place): „For me this medal is very special. In the last seasons I had many problems, now finally I have reached a good form again. It was a thrilling race, Franziska displayed a really strong performance, we are very satisfied."
Anais Bescond, France (3rd place): „The mixed relay is a very interesting race. You cannot rely only on your own, this makes it more exciting. Today we made only very few mistakes, winning Bronze here in Anterselva is fantastic."
As far as the mixed relay with two athletes is concerned, there seems to be only one nation at World Champion's level: Norway. After the first time this discipline was run in a World Championship, in Östersund last year, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Marte Olsbu Røiseland secured Gold also at Anterselva. For both it is the second team title at this World Championships as they also won the mixed relay. On the whole, for Bø it is the fourth medal in Anterselva, whereas Røiseland stood on the podium in all of the five races.
Germany braves Norway
Norway had to fear for its title up to the last shooting session. The two German athletes stood up to the successful Scandinavians over the whole distance until Erik Lesser missed a target in the last standing shooting. Bø took advantage of the reloading of his rival and ran towards Gold. Lesser and the very strong Franziska Preuss achieved rank two and were celebrated by the numerous German fans in the Südtirol Arena Alto Adige for the third black-red-gold medal in Anterselva.
Third place went to the pursuit World Champion Emilien Jacquelin and his French team mate Anais Bescond, who caught up with the Swedes and the Swiss at the last changeover.
Wierer and Hofer blunder in the shooting range
For the hosting nation, which was one of the favourites, it was a pitch-dark day: with 13 shooting mistakes they ruined a strong running performance. Especially Dorothea Wierer displayed an unusual weakness. She had to reload eight times and even absolve a penalty loop. In the end, Italy was the only nation to make it into the top 10 with a penalty loop. As Lukas Hofer also had to reload five times to hit all targets, the Italian team had to content themselves with place nine.
Results Single Mixed Relay World Championships Antholz (Friday, 20 February 2020)
1. Norway (Marte Olsbu Roeiseland/Johannes Thingnes Boe) 34.19,9 (0+6)
2. Germany (Franziska Preuss/Erik Lesser) +17,6 (0+5)
3. France (Anais Bescond/Emilien Jacquelin) +29,8 (0+4)
4. Sweden (Hanna Oeberg/Sebastian Samuelsson) +35,2 (0+7)
5. Switzerland (Lena Haecki/Benjamin Weger) +40,6 (0+9)
6. Austria (Lisa Theresa Hauser/Simon Eder) +54,5 (0+4)
7. Russia (Larissa Kuklina/Matvey Eliseev) +1.00,5 (0+6)
8. Canada (Emma Lunder/Vhristian Gow) +1.03,4 (0+7)
9. Italy (Dorothea Wierer/Lukas Hofer) +1.15,3 (1+13)
10. Ukraine (Anastasiya Merkushyna/Dmytro Pidruchnyi) +1.27,2 (0+8)
Comments on the race:
Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway (1st place): "We are overjoyed. For me it is the fourth medal, for Marte the fifth. Once again, today we displayed a flawless performance. Let's hope that we can keep doing the same the next days as well."
Erik Lesser, Germany (2nd place): „For me this medal is very special. In the last seasons I had many problems, now finally I have reached a good form again. It was a thrilling race, Franziska displayed a really strong performance, we are very satisfied."
Anais Bescond, France (3rd place): „The mixed relay is a very interesting race. You cannot rely only on your own, this makes it more exciting. Today we made only very few mistakes, winning Bronze here in Anterselva is fantastic."
