Triple success for Johannes Thingnes Bö in the biathlon pursuit in Canmore: The Norwegian not only secured the day’s victory, but also the small and large crystal globe.
With his third victory in a row, Johannes Thingnes Bö impressively underlined his exceptional role in biathlon: The Norwegian won the 12.5-kilometer pursuit in Canmore on Saturday (March 16, 2024). With the air temperature around 13 degrees, the winner of the sprint on Friday (March 15, 2024) could not be stopped by three penalty laps after shooting errors. In the fight for second place, the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson (1 penalty lap after shooting errors/+ 11.2 seconds) narrowly had the upper hand over the Frenchman Eric Perrot (1/+ 11.6 seconds).
Gust at 16. Career crystal ball
With the day’s victory, Bö also secured the “little crystal ball” of the best pursuer this winter. The Norwegian also secured the overall World Cup ahead of time before the final mass start on Sunday. For the five-time Olympic champion, who is used to success, it was balls 15 and 16 of his career.
Fifth overall World Cup for Bö: “The most difficult victory”
With this victory, Bö won the overall World Cup for the fifth time. He also secured the Discipline World Cup in the individual and pursuit this season. His older brother Tarjei was only better in sprinting. “A good day”laughed Bö after the race on ZDF. “My main goal is to get the yellow jersey. It was a pretty tough fight at times, it wasn’t easy this winter. There’s a lot of mental pressure”the 30-year-old confessed, particularly highlighting his brother, who is five years older: “It was the hardest victory of the overall World Cup. It was up and down. Tarjei is so good, he is the only one who can challenge me mentally.”
Bö can win the third discipline ball at the mass start on Sunday. However, they are only in third place in the overall ranking. “It’s much easier to attack instead of defending the yellow. Tomorrow I’ll start without pressure for the first time”laughed Bö.
Nawrath comes eleventh
The best German was Philipp Nawrath, who, with one shooting error, moved up one place to eleventh place (+2:01.5 minutes) after twelfth place in the sprint. Justus Strelow also made up one place without any shooting errors and finished 15th (+2:15.1 minutes). Philipp Horn moved up three places with two penalties and finished 17th (+2:24.5 minutes).
“Mode where you just want to survive”
“It was extremely difficult today. I noticed that things weren’t going so well right from the start”, Nawrath analyzed after the competition on ZDF. Once again the Germans had obvious material problems in the warm temperatures and were unable to keep up with the top athletes in terms of running. The best of the German team was Horn with the 17th best running time. “At some point you’ll get into a mode where you just want to survive. But overall I’m still in good shape.”said Nawrath.
Doll loses three places in the last pursuit
Danilo Riethmüller fell from ninth place to 23rd place with two penalties (+2:59.2 minutes). After the third shooting, he was still well in the race in eighth place, but another standing penalty and only the 48th-best running time on the last lap caused him to fall far behind.
Benedikt Doll came 26th in the last biathlon pursuit of his career (+ 3:10.4 minutes) – with three penalties, the 33-year-old lost three places compared to the sprint. Johanens Kühn had to go into the penalty loop five times; after eighth place in the sprint, he was only able to finish 28th. Roman Rees fell from 18th place to 29th place with two penalties.
Gust makes it exciting when lying down – and hits when standing
At the front, leader Bö made things exciting – but only until half of the race: Before the first shooting, Bö still had a lead of 1:09 minutes, and after the first prone stop and a penalty loop he was only 42.9 seconds ahead. After another prone penalty, the lead dwindled to 18.7 seconds; by the first standing stop, pursuer Emilien Jacquelin had fought back to 11.3 seconds.
But Bö showed strong nerves while standing: While the competition around Jacquelin and the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson had to go into the penalty loop, the Norwegian made no mistakes – and extended the lead back to a comfortable 47.7 seconds. Now even a penalty loop in the last shooting could no longer deny Bö victory.