“It can’t get much worse”

The Finnish men had a really sad minute at the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof.

Tuomas Harjula had arrived at the shooting range, but was unable to shoot at all. Harjula had crashed in the first corner of the race.

– The snow had gone everywhere. He tried to get it out with all kinds of means but without success, Urheilu’s expert Kaisa Mäkäräinen comment.

And that wasn’t all for Harjula. When there was no way to remove the snow, Harjula resorted to a backup weapon.

– The head coach had been at the competition’s jury meeting. Finland was not prepared for the competition with its own spare weapon. Finland ended up borrowing Austria’s spare weapon next door. The sights were not on point, Mäkäräinen continued.

Harjula had thus not been able to hit successfully at all and received five penalty rounds. However, Harjula did not go around the penalty ring. The competition was clear until then.

The Norwegian head coach of the Finnish national team Erik Kulstad regretted his mistake in the situation.

– I made a mistake today. In the original plan, I had half an hour to take care of the backup gun after the alignment. However, the jury had extra work due to the circumstances. When the meeting was over, I didn’t have time to fix the gun before the finish line, Kulstad explained the situation and referred to how the fate of the men’s sprint was considered before the start of the race because of the foggy weather in Oberhof.

Kulstad thanked Austria for the help.

– I made a mistake. I just have to learn. Hopefully the same problem won’t happen again, Kulstad stated.

Harjula also confirmed the events to Urheilu.

– There was loose snow in the first bend. I do not know what happened. Suddenly I was at his side. I got up pretty quickly. It didn’t take too much time, Harjula said.

However, at the first shooting location, he noticed that he could not see anything through the rear sight.

– I tried to pry with screwdrivers and whatever, but I couldn’t see anything. Then I got someone’s gun. When it wasn’t aimed, there was no hope of hitting. I didn’t go around penalty circles anymore, when it didn’t matter anymore, Harjula stated.

The final result was 111th place.

Harjula’s problems also upset ‘s newsroom.

– It can’t get much worse than that. Couldn’t be much worse luck. First it falls, I aimed full of snow. It cannot be opened, and there is no spare weapon. Well, on to the next trip, i.e. Tuesday’s normal trip, expert Ville Kotikumpu said.

Tero Seppälä’s measure is full

And that’s not all. At the same time as the incidents in Harjula Tero Seppälä hit four out of five shots from the upright.

According to Seppälä, vertical shooting has been challenging this season anyway. He went into this season with coaching to make changes that have not worked. The position of the support hand has been modified.

– We have trusted that the changes will be successful. Always in a good mood. Now the measure is starting to fill up. Let’s go back to the finals, perhaps to last year’s adjustments, so that we don’t have to get everything wrong, Seppälä stated.

From prone shooting, Seppälä had still shot zeroes. He was also satisfied with skiing. Last season’s comet, who was sick from the beginning of the season, stated that he has increased his skiing ability.

– Of course, this is sad when it affects the entire Games, that is, the chances of starting together, Seppälä said about his result.

Tero Seppälä was 47th, so he still made it to the pursuit race.

Laitinen also fell

After a black minute, about the Finns as well Heikki Laitinen fell down. However, Laitinen was able to shoot with his own gun.

– Pieces came out of the gun. The vertical hook broke completely, Laitinen said.

The fall was caused by the fact that the Swedish competitor had gone upside down in front of Laitinen on the descent.

– I pulled straight on and through the roof around, Laitinen, who reached the 71st place, continued.

– Obviously a special day today. But no can do. This is how it is sometimes.

The Finns were the best Olli Hiidensalo, which was in the 30s. Hiidensalo fired one missed shot. He missed out on winning the race Johannes Thingnes Bö two minutes.

– I give myself a clean slate about shooting. It was a relatively challenging situation. In the last round, I couldn’t work anymore. There was a small clot, Hiidensalo said.

Biathlon World Championships Oberhof GER (8.–19.2. TV2 and Areena)

Sun 12.2.
at 14:20 the chase, ladies
at 4:25 p.m. chase, men

Tue 14.2.
at 15:15 normal journey, men

Wed 15.2.
at 15:15 normal journey, ladies

Thu 16.2.
at 16:00 doubles relay

Sat 18.2.
at 12:40 message, men
at 15:55 message, ladies

Sun 19.2.
at 1:25 p.m. joint start, men
at 16:10 joint start, ladies

Updated at 18.12. In the end, Laitinen shot with his own gun, not the one borrowed from Poland.