The men’s Biathlon World Cup moved to the Christmas break under the Norwegian command. Finland’s Tuomas Harjula skied the best ranking of his career, and was 10th in a tight competition.
The men’s joint start race in Annecy, France ended with happy Finnish moods. Tuomas Harjula was 10th in the biathlon World Cup competition before the Christmas break. The Finn who shot only two penalties lost to the winner of the competition To Johannes Dale a good 45 seconds.
Norway dominated the competition, and the country’s triple victory was ensured by the runner-up Sturla Holm Lägreid and the World Cup leader who skied third Johannes Thingnes Bö. There were no less than six Norwegians in the top 10.
Harjula’s success was made possible by an even pace distribution. He set off calmly and stayed at the tail end of the big group.
– Tuomas knew that the competition would not be lost in the first round, Urheilu’s expert Ville Kotikumpu evaluate.
The Finn, who completed the first two shootings without misses, was able to ski in groups suitable for him throughout the competition.
– He was able to ski the intermediate rounds with the bow at the same speed. The two penalties that came in the first vertical position didn’t hurt, when the others also shot past shots. Harjula was still in good shape, Kotikumpu analyzed.
Harjula, who froze a bit at the end, successfully fought the last round, which guaranteed the man the best ranking of his career in the World Cup.
Hard decisions on the back of a successful early season
After last year’s Olympics, Harjula stopped the competition in the middle of the season, because the man felt that everything was not in order. The background was health problems and training load. The athlete moved to civilian work as a sports non-commissioned officer of the Kainuu brigade.
– He found peace of mind there and his passion for training returned, Kotikumpu explains.
Harjula started training again in April-May. The man of summer and autumn trained as usual.
– He has practiced hard and a lot. His coach Niko of Aapajärvi said that in the fall there was even a bit of a knife edge with which direction the mood would swing.
Recent results show that Harjula has recovered from hard training. The man’s pace has seemed to improve race by race. Harjula has already been among the top 20 three times this season.
More to come
An athlete who is in the best shape of his career can be expected to do even better after the Christmas break. Even the Finns have not reached peak fitness in the early season.
– Now it is important to get the body back into a state during the Christmas break. While talking with Tuomaksen and Niko, it has become clear that Tuomaksen’s peak fitness has also been built for the World Championships in February, Kotikumpu explains the situation.
– You can always expect better when an athlete goes in a better direction, concludes the expert.
The second Finn in the joint start race Olli Hiidensalo was the 28th He shot no less than six penalty rounds.
Biathlon World Cup continues in January in Pokljuka, Slovenia. The World Championships will be held in Oberhof, Germany in mid-February.