PHOTO: Bildbyrån
It was boom after boom for the Swedish biathlon stars in the recent competitions.
But is there cause for concern as the World Cup approaches?
– We maintain the same level as last year, says shooting coach Johan Hagström.
Total shot Elvira Öberg, Hanna Öberg, Sebastian Samuelsson and Martin Ponsiluoma 48 failures in the last four individual races in the World Cup, two in the sprint and two in the pursuit start.
After the men’s sprint in Ruhpolding, when five Swedes shot a total of 15 hurdles, the shooting coach was furious Jean-Marc Chabloz.
– It is so bad. I am terribly frustrated and disappointed in the boys, he told the Swedish media on the spot.
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Chabloz later apologized to the riders for his outburst. Maybe he shouldn’t have criticized them at all. Because overall, over the course of the season, the Stars aren’t any worse shooters compared to last season – at least not on the men’s side.
– “Sebbe” and Martin are better now. But I think that the public and the media partly think of the World Cup last year, which was fantastic, and then they think that this is how good we are. And we were, but it was two weeks into the whole season and it was a record season last year, says the shooting coach Johan Hagström.
Better efficiency
Swedish biathlon is, despite recent setbacks, not very much worse than last winter in terms of number of podium places in the World Cup. A year ago, Sweden had taken twelve podium places in the World Cup at this time, this year the number is eleven.
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The sisters Hanna and Elvira Öberg have a slightly worse shooting percentage this season than last season.
– But these are not bad numbers. Another thing in biathlon is how efficient you are on the range. After last season we said that we had to be more efficient on the shooting range and we have worked on that and we have gotten better at that, says Hagström about the fact that the Swedish skaters are now faster on the shooting range.
– If you include efficiency, the riders are better than ever.
“Go up and down”
After all, several in the Swedish national team come to the last competition before the WC, in Italian Antholz, with a substantial number of barriers in their luggage from the last competitions.
READ MORE: Björn Ferry’s brutally honest words about Hanna Öberg – now reveal major concerns ahead of the Biathlon World Cup: “She is not…”
But that does not worry, Hagström believes.
– It’s biathlon, everyone knows that it goes up and down. It is extremely difficult to shoot and hit, especially with a high heart rate and to go fast. Everyone knows that it can get like that (a lot of boom) sometimes. After a competition, you think about what was good and what was bad, why it was good or bad and what can be done to make it better, he says.
In Antholz there will be short distance races on Thursday (men) and Friday (ladies), single mixed relay and mixed relay on Saturday and mass start (men and women) on Sunday. The WC in Nove Mesto begins on February 7.
Elvira Öberg
2023-24: 83 percent lying/85 percent standing. 2022-23: 89/86
Hanna Öberg
2023-24: 79/81. 2022-23: 80/89
Martin Ponsiluoma
2023-24: 76/82. 2022-23: 76/78
Sebastian Samuelsson
2023-24: 86/77. 2022-23: 85/77
The shooting percentage applies to half of the 2023-24 World Cup season compared to the full 2022-23 season.
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