There was a relay day at the Biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka. Finland excelled in the mixed doubles relay. Belgium’s Thierry Langer was responsible for the day’s most talked about performance in the medley relay.
A great Finnish result was seen in the Biathlon World Cup, when Suvi Minkkinen and Tuomas Harjula brought Finland to the finish line in fourth place in the mixed doubles relay.
This is Finland’s best team competition in the Biathlon World Cup in 20 years.
In the 2001–2002 season, Finland was fourth in the men’s relay in December in Pokljuka and in March in Lahti.
Now it was in Pokljuka that there was another top success.
– This was a tough bet. Among its current athletes, Finland had fast shooters and sufficiently good skiers on the move, Urheilu’s expert Ville Kotikumpu anneal.
At the World Cup, the mixed doubles and mixed relays are currently contested on the same days. Depending on the competition, the teams prioritize the messages.
At the World Championships, the mixed doubles relay is contested on its own day, so then different countries have the opportunity to put their strongest formations on the starting line. Kotikumpu states that Finland has a chance to reach the top six in the World Championships as well.
Now Finland cleared the competition with eight spare cartridges.
– We didn’t see a perfect performance from Finland either. Another half minute can be taken out of that when you run through the race with four spare cartridges, Kotikumpu states.
The most special situation of the message day was seen on the mixed message side. Belgium Thierry Langer fell and had to clean his gun from the snow at the shooting site. Langer’s way of cleaning his gun shocked Sweden. Langer pointed the barrel of the gun directly at his face in his cleanup operation.
2010 Olympic pursuit champion and current SVT expert Bjorn Ferry shocked by the situation.
– You can’t do that. You can’t hold the barrel to your face. That’s really life-threatening, Ferry said.
Kotikumpu also reminds us of the basic rule that you don’t look at the end of the pipe.
– Now we’re blowing a bit from the wrong direction, Kotikumpu stated in the commentary room when the situation arose.
– Fortunately, the magazine was not in place when it started to blow. He took it out of the box. Didn’t put a cartridge in the barrel and then start blowing from the end of the barrel. It is a serious security risk.
According to SVT, Langer also survived the consequences because Langer had time to take off his cap before his act. Belgium was tenth at the finish, i.e. five places higher than Finland. Jaakko Ranta, Olli Hiidensalo, Venla Lehtonen and Nastassia Kinnunen competed in the medley relay in Finland.
1. Norway 1.19.48.9 (0+5)
2. France + 41.0 (0+6)
3. Switzerland + 49.6 (0+8)
4. Finland + 1.33,3 (0+8)
5. Austria + 1.45,9 (0+10)
6. United States + 2.01.4 (2+9)
7. Ukraine + 2.14,1 (1+9)
8. Japan + 2.14,5 (0+10)
9. Moldova + 2.18,7 (0+8)
10. Sweden+ 2.19,0 3+13
1. France 1.19.48.9 (1+7)
2. Italy + 24.6 (0+7)
3. Sweden + 47.2 (1+5)
4. Switzerland + 1.09,3 (0+13)
5. Germany + 1.09,9 (2+11)
6. Norway + 1.41,2 (1+12)
7. Czech Republic + 2.12,3 (0+8)
8. Poland + 3.23,1 (0+5)
9. Austria+ 4.07,1 (0+7)
10. Belgium + 4.12,1 (0+2)
15. Finland + 5.39,4 (0+11)