PHOTO: Bildbyrån
For the first time, a biathlon competition will be decided in Stockholm. In February, some of the world’s best biathletes will meet at Stockholm’s stadium.
– It will be super cool, says Sebastian Samuelsson.
Biathlon is a very popular televised sport. Now they also want to offer the most populous part of Sweden the opportunity to experience the best of the sport on site.
– I know that there are good competitions in other places where a lot of people live and there are usually folk festivals and a great atmosphere. It will be an incredible experience to experience it at home in Sweden, says Hanna Öberg at a press conference with the organizers Swedish Biathlon Union and Stadionklubbarna.
Perhaps the most famous arena biathlon competition is the annual World Team Challenge in Gelsenkirchen, Germany in the intervening days. Last year, the competition had 30,000 spectators.
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The gold medalists drive
There will be room for 10,000 spectators, and the competition will be decided a little over a week after the WC.
– It could become a boiling pot. The arena feeling is otherwise difficult to get outdoors where we usually compete, says Öberg.
On February 26, the Skidskyttekampen at Stockholm’s stadium will be decided as a single mixed relay, where each team consists of one female and one male athlete. Sweden’s one team consists of WC gold medalists Hanna Öberg and Sebastian Samuelsson. They will face another Swedish team plus six other national teams, including from Norway, France and Germany.
When asked who Samuelsson would most like to meet, he answers:
– Norway can send the best they have, so we will give them a match.
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“More action”
Norway has the World Cup’s top three men’s skaters from last season with the WC king Johannes Thingnes Bø at the head.
– It will be super cool to get down to Stockholm where a lot of people live and to show off our sport. It will be a cool format, more action, it goes faster and you have to shoot fast, says Samuelsson.
The skiers compete on a 500-metre loop with eight shooting lanes. The competition must be repeated annually and the prize money on par with the World Cup. During the competition week in February, there is an opportunity for children and young people on sports leave to try biathlon in the arena – then with laser shooting.
Sweden is organizing this winter’s World Cup premiere, in Östersund 25 November–3 December.
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