The last round was almost a round of honor for Thingnes Bø. Inside the race, he stopped completely and stood on his knees, while making a finger gesture towards the audience. In the press zone after the race, Thingnes Bø confirms that it was all an imitation of Erling Braut Haaland. When the Norwegian played in Borussia Dortmund, he celebrated in a similar way after scoring against Wolfsburg in 2021. – It was a “shout out” to our big star out there, says Thingnes Bø to news. Thingnes Bø received criticism from German Roman Rees when he booed the audience during the start of the hunt in Anterselva earlier this winter. – A bit of arrogant behavior has to be put up with every now and then. If not, the sport will turn grey, and the sport will lose out, said Thingnes Bø at the time. – We’ve seen you hush up the audience. It almost looked like a proposal? – Yes, I thought about it. It almost looked like this. I hope people see who I am imitating. The comparison will run its course online, says Thingnes Bø with a smile on Sunday. – How is the comparison in status between you and Haaland, would you say? – It’s a knockout from Haaland’s side, he says, chuckling. – It is important that he makes a bit of a show. Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen calls the picture of Thingnes Bø on his knees “picture of the year”. – That is the crudest picture I have ever seen. I hope he has taken some inspiration from my pranks, he says. – It looks like he’s playing a little Lucky Luke and is about to fire a couple of friendly shots at the audience. It is this year’s picture, says Christiansen. Tarjei Bø lost the battle for the bronze medal, but could enjoy his little brother’s gold race. – It’s nice to be able to have such a big lead that you have the opportunity to think about what you’re going to come up with when you reach the finish line. It has been a long time since I have been in that position, he says. Endre Strømsheim praises his teammate’s celebration. – It is very good to see. It can be a bit boring when he leads with one minute to go, so it is important that he puts on a bit of a show, he says. THE PODIUM: From left: Sturla Holm Lægreid, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Sebastian Samuelsson. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB – Johannes is a God who walks with us The gold was in reality never threatened for Thingnes Bø, who only started after Saturday’s sprint victory. On the way to the hunting start gold, he delivered perfect shooting and solid speed on the course. – Johannes Thingnes Bø is world champion at the start of the hunt with the most perfect race of them all. 20 hits on the fastest. Then it’s outclassing, said news’s commentator Andreas Stabrun Smith after the fourth shooting. It is the first time since he won the WC joint start in Anterselva in 2020 that Thingnes Bø has shot 20 hits in a race and he himself refers to the whole thing as a “perfect run”. Sturla Holm Lægreid also followed behind with 20 hits, but in the match against Thingnes Bø he had no chance despite that and was more than a minute behind from the last shooting. In the end, he finished 1.11.2 ahead of Lægreid, while Sebastian Samuelsson sprinted past Tarjei Bø in the battle for third place. – I am really proud of what I can achieve with 20 hits today. It doesn’t get any better for me. The gold medal was unattainable, but silver is gold for me today, says Lægreid. PRAISE TO THE GOLD WINNER: Sturla Holm Lægreid ran an almost perfect race, but was still not close to threatening teammate Thingnes Bø. Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP Sunday’s second place is the sixth time this season he has finished second behind Thingnes Bø. – I just have to accept that I am the best of mortals, and then Johannes is a God who walks with the rest of us. I wonder if maybe Jesus has returned after 2000 years. In any case, he skis very fast, so we can’t do much else with him other than wait for him to take the golds he’s going to take and then maybe he’ll be satisfied, says Lægreid. – As long as he is allowed to go in peace, he is simply unbeatable. He is a divine type, says resident Tarjei Bø. The gold is Thingnes Bø’s 13th individual victory at the top level for the season. In 2023, he has won all eight individual races he has entered. – There are so many ways to ruin a biathlon race. Winning eight biathlon races in a row, as he has done in 2023, is an absolutely extreme achievement. To be able to be so stable in a sport with so many factors, says Strømsheim, who finished in 13th place. The chase start curse was broken Thingnes Bø went for his fourth sprint gold in the WC/Olympic context on Saturday and his eighth individual gold in the aforementioned championships. One gold that has been missing from the collection, however, is gold at the start of the hunt. When he won his first World Cup gold in the sprint in 2015, he shot himself completely away at the start of the chase in Kontiolahti with eight laps and came 31st. Four years later in Östersund, he was on his way to gold, before he missed three times in the final shooting and in the end was 8.3 seconds behind gold winner Dmitro Pidruchnij. At the start of the Olympic hunt last year, there were seven penalty rounds and Thingnes Bø dropped from first to fifth place. Thingnes Bø stood before Sunday’s race with three WC silvers and one WC bronze in the chase, but on Sunday it went all the way for the Norwegian, who thus took his 15th WC gold and 20th gold in total in the WC and Olympics.
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Johannes Thingnes Bø broke the curse – took the gold in the pursuit start for the first time – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
