The Swede Sebastian Samuelsson has long been known to all biathlon fans. But if a couple of years ago fame was associated with caustic comments towards Russia, now he is associated with good results at the highest level.
According to the results of the first stage of the 2023/2024 World Cup, the Swede had already won two golds and did not leave the top 7. It seems that Samuelsson really aspires to the “Big Crystal Globe”, which he dreamed of last year.
How did Sebastian go from being a talker to being a World Cup leader?
Anti-doping fighter
Samuelsson has been competing in the World Cup for a long time. He debuted in the tournament back in the 2016/2017 season. Then, in his first race, the sprint, the Swede took 19th place. Despite the tough start at the World Championships, the next two seasons Sebastian was not satisfied with his high results: most of the time he took places outside the top 30 , but won medals in the relay. For Samuelsson, only the 2018 Olympic Games stood out in the results. There, the Swede sensationally won gold in the relay and silver in the pursuit.
Samuelsson on Russian doping. Hot interview:
“If you get caught with EPO, you have no place in sports.” Our friend couldn’t stay silent.
The only thing that distinguished the young Swede then was his ardent, irreconcilable and loud fight against doping, especially Russian.
“Of course, I finally lost faith in the purity of the Russian team after the search by the Austrian police (in December 2018 – Championship Note). I will still wait for the investigation to be completed, but, as you understand, Loginov himself has already been sanctioned for doping. All true athletes know that if you are caught using EPO, you have nothing left to do in sports.
If several Russian biathletes are suspended from competition after a search, this will be the correct decision. This is how it should be done. I’m sure they have enough evidence for that. They just wouldn’t do it that way. I understand that they will not be disqualified forever, but rather for the duration of the investigation. But it is very important that they do not have the opportunity to compete with clean athletes until they are proven innocent,” Samuelsson said in 2018.
Sebastian Samuelsson
Photo: RIA Novosti
The Russians were not suspended then, but the Swedes’ attacks continued.
An unexpected takeoff
In the 2018/2019 season, Samuelsson stood out for more than just his talk. His results improved: more and more, the athlete began to finish in the top twenty and was even able to win his first personal medal at the World Cup – bronze in the sprint. In the general classification, Sebastián rose from 44th place to 22nd!
In the 2019/2020 season, the Swede maintained the level he had achieved and a year later made a breakthrough. Samuelsson became a really great biathlete: he almost constantly entered the top 10 and stood on the podium. During the season, Sebastián won a total of 12 medals (3 – 7 – 2), five of which were personal. As a result, the biathlete took sixth place in the total.
Samuelsson’s strange act at the 2021 World Cup:
“What, Sweden won?” The Norwegians surprised by Samuelsson’s strange act at the goal
The 2021/2022 season was a triumph. Samuelsson has never run better before or since. The Swede only missed the top 10 a couple of times and was a regular participant in the awards. Sebastián had fewer medals this time, only eight (2 – 4 – 2), but seven of them were personal! In the overall World Cup classification, Samuelsson took third place, a feat achieved by only one Swede in history: Mikael Löfgren in 1993. In addition to the total, the athlete was close to winning the individual discipline classification. The biathlete was slightly inferior to Quentin Fillon Maillet in the fight for the Small Crystal Globes in sprints and pursuits.
And again the Games stood out in the Olympic season. Unlike his success in Pyeongchang, Sebastian failed in Beijing and went home without awards. The Swede’s best result in China was fifth place in the sprint.
painful decline
In the 2022/2023 season, Samuelsson stated that he intended to win the World Cup. It looked like the inspired Swede could do it, but Sebastian’s results worsened. It is not uncommon for a biathlete to finish outside the top 15. During the World Cup season, the athlete took two silver medals in relay races. As a result, he 14th place.
But this failure is explained quite simply: the athlete fought against endless illnesses for almost the entire winter. Due to the sudden coronavirus, he even had to end the season in early March.
The only thing the Swede was really good at was the World Championships in Oberhof. There, Sebastián won three bronze medals (pursuit, individual race and relay) and gold in the mass start. For Samuelsson, this World Cup victory was the first of his career. Although there were failures here too. In the mixed relay, the athlete performed three penalty loops, depriving Sweden of a medal. After the finish, Sebastian cried, blaming problems with the rifle.
Samuelsson’s failure at the World Championship:
Video
Bad start for Samuelsson in the World Championship. The absence of Russia did not save the Swede from shame
This past offseason, the biathlete worked on his ski speed and even changed the design of his rifle to shoot faster.
And already in the summer he stated that he intended to fight against Johannes Boe.
“For me, the bad results in the World Cup are a motivation. A couple of seasons ago I was sixth overall, we were fighting and some races were really good. But if I want to win in the future, I need to forget about what happened. I’m not afraid of Johannes Boe. I think he is a great athlete who often puts in great performances, but he can be outclassed, and that is what I and many other athletes train for every day, and I think we have a good chance of achieving it.
I want to fight in the general championship, I dream of winning it one day. In past seasons I have been close to this, but I know that one day I will be able to do it.”
New leader?
And so far Sebastian really does it better than Johannes Boe. According to the results of the first phase of the World Cup, the Swede occupies second place in the general classification, losing only one point to the German Philipp Nawrath. In Östersund, Samuelsson won two golds (in mixed singles and pursuit) and never finished lower than seventh place. There could be more medals, but in the individual event the athlete made an additional mistake and placed seventh, and in the relay race, thanks to a miracle, he led the unsuccessful Swedish team to sixth place.
Samuelsson performed real miracles in Östersund:
Samuelsson performed a miracle in the chase. The fast Swede played one minute and won
For comparison: Boe is only eighth in the World Cup total with three medals (1 – 1 – 1), two of which were won in relay races. In the sprint-pursuit combination, Johannes came in 15th and 18th place. While the World Cup winner suffers setbacks.
Notably, Samuelsson is ahead of his main rival in terms of pure speed. If last season the Swede lost an average of three seconds to the fastest Norwegian with his legs, now the situation has changed. Sebastian has the best move and Johannes loses by four seconds.
“It’s completely wild. I don’t understand how it can go so fast. He can shoot, but he gets hit at the shooting range. He knew that he would act quickly, but I didn’t know that he would act so quickly,” said the Swedish national team coach, Johannes Lukas, not without surprise.
The Swede’s shooting performance did not change so seriously: instead of 85% in the prone position, it became 91%, and instead of 77% in the standing position, it became 74%. But not even the most precise work on the corner allows Samuelsson to be a true leader in the World Cup. The 26-year-old biathlete has every chance of taking the Great Crystal Globe this season, but to get it you have to try.
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THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS