It was hugely exciting when the riders entered the long race. Samuelsson looked to be in control when he looked back, but Christiansen came with great speed in the outer corridor and was able to pass the Swede with a perfect finish and forward boot and make a long-awaited victory gesture in front of the home crowd.
– I was dumbfounded on the shelf but felt that I had the meters that would be needed. When there were ten meters to go, I thought I had it, but I don’t set the technique and am quite dumb and then he comes with a very high speed, says Samuelsson to SVT Sport.
– I have dreamed and fantasized about this for many years. I’ve been training here all summer and knew exactly what I needed to do, the speed I picked up on the run up was much higher than his but I thought I was closer in the last ten meters. The timing was good, says Sjåstad Christiansen, who went with Juni Arnekleiv.
Christiansen got revenge from the WC
The margin of victory was set at a tenth, the smallest margin in biathlon, but it was smaller if you were to go down to hundredths.
It was a repeat of the men’s relay in the WC when Sebastian Samuelsson and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen came in for the last standing shot. Then the Norwegian shot away and had to take three rounds after “the world’s worst shooting”, while Samuelsson made sure that it was a Swedish gold medal by shooting full.
Both Samuelsson and Christiansen were missed on the last shot and the Swede was able to take the lead by four seconds on the sprint lap, where the distance was constant until the last meters.
Anna Magnusson dispatched Sebastian Samuelsson for second in the final stretch three seconds behind leaders Finland, who claimed their first ever podium in the singles mixed relay, with Norway lurking close behind.