France won the men’s relay at the Biathlon World Cup ahead of Norway. Finland reached tenth place, but there was more on offer.
15:09•Updated 16:10
Johannes Thingnes Bön the dream of seven gold medals at the World Championships in Oberhof in the men’s relay. Bö, who has already won five World Championship golds in these games, had to settle for World Championship silver with Norway. Bö still has a chance for a gold medal in tomorrow’s joint start race.
The message world championship was conquered by France with the team Antonin Guigonnat, Fabian Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet. Finland was tenth.
The message was sent under challenging conditions. The strong wind played tricks on many athletes.
The first culmination point was the vertical position of the second section. The wind was strong and the gaps widened. Norway had a penalty round, the Czech Republic and France took a massive lead.
France’s Jacquelin, who had one penalty round in the third section, froze at the end of the skiing section and the Czech Republic made it to the last change in the lead.
In the anchor section, Fillon Maillet took the mantle of hero, who certainly shot down all the boards. France won by about 39 seconds before Norway. Sebastian Samuelsson lifted Sweden to bronze ahead of the Czech Republic, which reached the anchor section in the lead.
Seppälä excelled, Hiidensalo was unlucky
Finland’s opener Jaakko Ranta performed at the shooting range for sure, but on the track Finland had to bow more than a minute away from the lead.
– I was really satisfied with the shooting. Nine hits and the last one was retrieved with a spare cartridge. Today I was a bit soft on the track, but a reasonable bet. Everything was left on the track.
In the second leg Tuomas Harjula had to go to one penalty circle after the vertical position. Finland entered the second exchange in 16th place and more than two minutes behind the lead.
Harjula regretted the difficult circumstances.
– It was a little windy when I came to the shooting location. Then the wind started to pick up. It spun quite badly when I tried to shoot with the spare cartridges.
In the third part Tero Seppälä fired quickly without resorting to spare cartridges. Seppälä was the second fastest of the entire three-leg.
Anchor Olli Hiidensalo put Finland in sixth place in prone shooting. Shortly after this, however, Hiidensalo fell off-road. At the last shooting location, he had two penalty rounds. So the final ranking is 10th.
– I am very satisfied with the shooting. I have come to train in Kontiolahti many times in difficult conditions. Many times I have not come away smiling, but now I was smiling after the vertical position. I fanned out a bit there. It went easily, Seppälä said.
According to Seppälä, the wind was not that strong when he shot.
– It’s an athlete against the wind. You shouldn’t let it fall on your neck. It worked.
Seppälä will compete in the joint start race on Sunday. Message pull promises a good decision journey.
He hopes that the track will be in better condition in Sunday’s race. On Saturday, it wasn’t, which could lead to Hiidensalo’s downfall.
– Tomorrow, when we put 30 men at the same time, it’s a bit scary. When I shoot like that, it’s going to be good.
1) France (Antonin Guigonnat, Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet) 1.21.48.8 (1 penalty+9 spare cartridges)
2) Norway (Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Tarjei Bö, Sturla Holm Lägreid, Johannes Thingnes Bö) +38.8 seconds (2+14)
3) Sweden (Peppe Femling, Martin Ponsilouma, Jesper Nelin, Sebastian Samuelsson) +1.39.9 (1+13)
4) Czech Republic +2.04,2 (2+10)
5) Germany +3.51.8 (5+8)
6) Switzerland +4.08,1 (6+8)
….
10) Finland (Jaakko Ranta, Tuomas Harjula, Tero Seppälä, Olli Hiidensalo) +5.08.8 (3+7)