Tero Seppälä could have achieved a great result in the distance race in Oberhof. But in the last standing, fatigue took its toll – in a race where even WC king Johannes Thingnes Bø managed to live dangerously.
Finland’s best position in the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof was at stake when Tero Seppälä took to the shooting mat for his last standing shooting in Tuesday’s distance race.
Seppälä had made a strong race and only had one boom in his back pocket before the finish. But the weather in sunny Oberhof was heavy – and Seppälä was tired.
There were two misses and a final position of 18th for the Finn.
– I was hoping for a place among the top six before the last shoot. It wasn’t something that the guys at the track shouted at me, but I knew it myself, the ride had felt so good, Seppälä tells Yle.
– There were good ingredients in today’s race and this was significantly better than the sprint.
Heavy ahead
This season, Seppälä has been fiddling with his standing shooting position. But after woeful shooting and a 47th place finish in the sprint, he switched back to his old shooting habits – and rose to 24th in the chase start.
– Now the shooting feels much better, continues the Finn after having once again trusted old methods.
– But the lead was incredibly heavy. I got really tired towards the end and it couldn’t be better than that on the last stand. You start to tremble and then the weapon weighs more.
To the winning WC king Johannes Thingnes Bø, the Finn lost almost four and a half minutes.
It was in today’s distance race that the great Norwegian dominant could possibly be brought down from his throne. And so it seemed to be.
The World Cup dominant could not be stopped
Bø took the trouble to miss a couple of shots and then the challengers were suddenly invited to the gold battle. It was compatriot Sturla Holm Lægreid who ended up in the spotlight.
He shot flawlessly on the first three shots – but missed his very last shot. Then Bø had to celebrate his fourth gold in Oberhof, with a margin of one minute and ten seconds to Lægreid.
Johannes Thingnes Bø is winning everything that can be won at the moment.
Image: IMAGO/Jacob Schröter/All Over Press
biathlon, biathlon ladies
At the same time, Bø has taken home the last nine individual races he has competed in. No one has managed to do that before.
– It shouldn’t be possible to win nine races in a row. But at the same time, it says a little about the flow I’m in, thinks Bø for NRK.
Swede Sebastian Samuelsson led the race halfway, but missed a shot in third and had to aim for the silver medal. It became a second battle, which Samuelsson lost by four tenths of a margin to Lægreid.
The bronze was the Swede’s second in the championship and at the same time another nice answer to the critics who reacted to his nightmare premiere.
– At the end, I received many emails after each race saying that I should take a shooting course, now I showed all the critics. Two medals at the WC, I have never won so many individual medals at a championship before, says Samuelsson for SVT.
Of the other Finns, Olli Hiidensalo was 30th after three misses. Tuomas Harjula finished 40th and Jaakko Ranta 50th.
