Samuelsson won the first World Cup race in 2023/2024. Not even the Norwegians stopped him!
Yulia Sidorova November 25, 2023, 21:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The Swedes won the supermix. The French: classic mixed relay.
Long live the new season of the Biathlon World Cup!
On the first day of competition this winter in Östersund, Sweden, two races were held at the same time: a super mixed race and a mixed relay race. It’s like the offseason never happened, because the top three winners are all last year’s leaders.
Live streams of World Cup races are available on Okko.
Sweden’s combat personnel destroyed everyone.
Even before the start of the supermix, the Swedes looked like the main favorites of the race. At home, the hosts presented their top line-up of fighters: Sebastian Samuelsson along with Hannah Oeberg.
The rest of the teams rather tried to balance their lineups. For example, the Norwegians were represented by Sturla Lægreid and Uni Arnekleive, who had never shined before. The French have a similar story: current BHG holder Julia Simon is joined by Fabien Claude, number two on the French men’s team at the end of last season.
If in the first turn of the relay the first three seemed unusual (Austria, Germany and Ukraine), in the second turn everything returned to normal. The French, Norwegians and Swedes took the lead. Thanks to the efforts of Claude, who shot as many as two penalties, in third gear France fell back to tenth position, but it turned out that Julia Simone was in perfect order, despite the criminal drama. She once again led the team into the fight for the top three and finally finished with bronze. The Norwegians are in second place and the hosts of the stage were the winners.
However, nothing new: Sweden, Norway and France have not ceded their status as major biathlon powers to anyone for several seasons.
Battle until the last battle
Is it any wonder that in the classic mixed relay race the teams of this powerful biathlon trio fought for victory?
The main battle took place between Norway and France. In the first stage, Tarjei Boe made two mistakes, but finished in the lead, 0.1 seconds ahead of the Swiss Stalder. Johannes Boe also missed twice, but increased his lead to 17.9 seconds. Caroline Knotten then ran into the race, making the fans nervous by almost entering a penalty loop in the grandstand. However, already on the track she lost to the Frenchwoman Justine Breza-Boucher, who, by the way, showed the best speed on the stage.
Before the final stage, the Germans completed the three preliminary winners, but even before the first stage, the Italian Lisa Vittozzi broke into the top three.
The medals were finally distributed in the last shooting stage. Ingrid Tandrevold and Lou Jeanmonneau shot at the same time, but the Norwegian’s miss deprived her team of a chance at gold. France retained the victory. Well, the bronze for Italy went to Vitozzi, who shot and ran magnificently.
The Biathlon World Cup in Östersund will continue with men’s and women’s individual races. They will take place on Sunday, November 26.
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