He has never stood on the podium in the World Cup before, but in Holmenkollen the long-awaited success came.
Jesper Nelin finished third in the mass start.
31-year-old Nelin has won gold in both the WC and the Olympics, but then it has been like a building block in Sweden’s relay team. In the World Cup individually, the Swede’s best finish was sixth when he stood on the starting line in Saturday’s mass start in Oslo.
There, Nelin succeeded in most things.
In rain and wind, many skaters had to toil on the shooting range, but Jesper Nelin hit the mark with 19 out of 20 shots. It was enough for a third place.
Otherwise, it was Sebastian Samuelsson who for a long time looked like the Swede for the day in front of the Norwegian biathlon audience. Samuelsson was third before the last shooting and when the top duo – Tarjei Bø and Benedikt Doll – both missed, it was Swedish victory.
Instead, it was a flat fall for Samuelsson, when he missed three shots and fell back heavily. He finished 13th, while Martin Ponsiluoma was ninth.
Sturla Holm Lægreid made it a home victory when he won for the second day in a row, this time ahead of Germany’s Doll.
TT NEWS AGENCY
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