It was triple Norwegian in the men’s biathlon sprint in Pokljuka. And at the top of the podium once again stood Johannes Thingnes Bø. – It is fantastic. I never get tired of winning, he says to news. Before the season is half over, he has already collected a total of 689 World Cup points, and leads with 64 points at Sturla Holm Lægreid, who was third in Friday’s sprint. Emilien Jacquelin in third place has a total of 370 points. – It’s probably too far up to me and Sturla for the rest, says Thingnes Bø. – I have given up that fight, admits the Frenchman after a horror race with five misses and a 64th place. Expert criticism This causes news’s expert to react. – I think it will be too stupid. There is an exciting duel between Johannes and Sturla, but when the man in third place has given up after one race after Christmas, I think the IBU should take another look at that points system. I don’t think they hit the mark with that, says Synnøve Solemdal. The new points system before this season has received a lot of negative attention from the athletes. In particular, they were critical of the fact that you cannot now miss two races, but also that the winner now gets 90 points rather than the 60 awarded. – Me and Sturla have been on the podium in almost every single race. The others have varied greatly. With the new points system, it will be like this. We will have to see whether there will be more people on the podium than me and Sturla, says Thingnes Bø. TRIPLE: Johannes Thingnes Bø won ahead of older brother Tarjei Bø and Sturla Holm Lægreid. Photo: Darko Bandic / AP Jacquelin isn’t thrilled about the changes either. – They increase the differences, especially when it is so difficult to win. We will see at the end of the season how big the difference is between the old and the new system, he says. The sports director of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) believes the new system will not make any difference when it is finally counted. – In general, the points system rewards the best performances better than before, but even with the old system, Johannes would have been far ahead now, so it is not the system that creates this huge sea, it is athletes who perform extraordinarily at the moment, points out Daniel Böhm. “Everyone” gives up Many had a stated goal of winning the yellow jersey before the start of the season. Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen is now number four, 376 points behind his compatriot. He too has given up. – I think I will concentrate on hitting one or two more shots while standing, and what Johannes is doing is wild. They all get parked, he states. Sebastian Samuelsson and Quentin Fillon-Maillet are also completely hooked and are now setting their sights on the WC. – No one has a chance against him, says “Sebbe”. – He “kills” the sport. He skis extremely fast. Sturla also impresses, praises last year’s World Cup winner, Fillon-Maillet. Norway has five of its men in the top 10 overall, while Tarjei Bø is number 13. news’s expert is disappointed by the competition from the foreign countries. NEW WIN: Johannes Thingnes Bø took his fourth straight sprint victory in the World Cup, and Norway’s 10th victory in a row. Photo: Darko Bandic / AP – I have to pay tribute to the Norwegians, but we miss a real fight from a foreigner. I think one reason could be that it is the season after the Olympics. We’ve seen before that many people peak their form for it, so maybe they’ve let themselves down too far after that. Took some time off and the air has gone out of the balloon a little, says Synnøve Solemdal. Drama before the start However, there was not everything that indicated that the ironing would take its fourth straight sprint victory before the race. – He has had major problems in the start here, reported Ola Lunde about Johannes Thingnes Bø before the sprint start. Because the World Cup leader was back and forth between the mat and the trainers several times to get help looking at the weapon. The end piece was not attached well enough after he had polished the weapon before the competition, Lunde explained. – You always get nervous when Johannes acts like that. They fixed the part in the count’s time, but I would think it creates a bit of uncertainty before the first shooting, says news expert Harri Luchsinger. THE PROBLEM: Johannes Thingnes Bø struggled during the warm-up before the sprint, but it did not seem to affect him in the race. Photo: Darko Bandic / AP – There was some drama there. The charging arm has been a little slow the last few days. I disassembled the gun this morning and dry cleaned it. When I got to the stand, the charging arm was dry and something had gone wrong. I couldn’t push the shot forward all the way. Patrick saw it and had it fixed, says Thingnes Bø himself. And when he crossed the finish line with a lead of 56 seconds, which eventually became 48 seconds ahead of Tarjei Bø, the superlatives hung loose. – It’s crazy. It’s madness. It is in a separate world, a separate galaxy, exclaimed commentator Andreas Stabrun Smith. – He walks so enormously. It is clearly the best in the world, and he shows it once again, Lunde followed up. – Saved me in. He also highlighted the weapons problem before the start in his tribute to the Norwegian, who won with his biggest margin of victory in a sprint ever. – It shows what lives in him, his ability to be calm. It is so easy to get stressed there and deliver poorly, but he is fantastic at putting bad things behind him very quickly, says news’s man on the stand. – I’m a mathematician, so I trust that if it’s fixed, it’s fixed, says Thingnes Bø. – I wasn’t stressed about the race, but about being able to finish before the shooting was over. I saved myself well and finished half a minute before the deadline, he elaborates further.
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Thingnes Bø scared the experts before the start – then struck with a “crazy race” – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
