The sponsor meeting took place during the national opening at Sjusjøen two weeks ago, where Johannes Thingnes Bø and his brother Tarjei Bø were asked to wrestle backhand. Competitive people that they are, they put some effort into it. Thingnes Bø took the victory against his older brother, but at the same time suffered some kind of overload in his elbow joint. – It’s a junior mistake as I see it, says news’s biathlon expert Ola Lunde. NOT IMPRESSED: news expert Ola Lunde. Photo: Rodrigo Freitas / NTB – There are things like this that good athletes shouldn’t do. It is absolutely incredible that it is possible to break backhand. I think it’s completely hopeless to get involved before the start of the season, he continues. Because this weekend, the new World Cup season breaks loose in Östersund. There, Thingnes Bø, overall winner of the World Cup in four of the last five seasons, will start, despite the elbow problem. news broadcasts the World Cup opening in biathlon. Broadcast starts at 12:15 on news 1. – Little thing that has bothered me After Friday’s training in the Swedish snow, the 30-year-old was a little cryptic when asked how his elbow was doing. – It went well, but I will tell you that regardless of whether it goes well or badly, says Thingnes Bø to news. – It’s just a small thing that has been bothering me a little lately, Thingnes Bø continues, before admitting that he is “excited about it”. THE BROTHERS: Tarjei Bø on the back of his little brother at Sjusjøen. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Both he and his brother seem to take it all in good spirits, and Tarjei Bø believes that even he has no reason to feel guilty about the elbow injury. – It wasn’t my fault. We are such nice boys, and follow the scheme the association and the sponsors set up, says Tarjei Bø to news. – It’s easy to get an injury Lunde justifies the skepticism about the back of the hand with the fact that the experienced biathlete profiles had not warmed up the muscles. – Then it’s easy to get injured. We saw that with the scheme here. He hasn’t exactly practiced that much backhand, Johannes Thingnes Bø, says Lunde. – He says it himself, that if he does a strength exercise that he doesn’t normally do, he gets completely knocked out. Handbacks are clearly not something he usually does. Then it stung a bit. He is a fragile type, says Tarjei Bø and laughs. – Yes, I am very fragile, admits Thingnes Bø – he also laughs. The women biathletes have been knitting for several generations when they are resting. Now news has challenged them to see who actually masters knitting the best. – Will not get worse The elbow injury does not seem to have done anything to the spirits of the brothers, even if Thingnes Bø envisions a weaker weekend than one is used to seeing from the ironing. However, it is for completely different reasons, for the athlete who won 16 of 21 World Cup races last season. – It won’t be worse than it will be at the weekend. I think it can only get better from here on out. Historically speaking, I get better after how many ski races I’ve done, says Thingnes Bø. READY FOR THE START OF THE SEASON: Johannes Thingnes Bø during Friday’s training in Östersund. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news Men’s coach Siegfried Mazet has great faith in Thingnes Bø after the training sessions in Östersund. – It went very well today, and yesterday there was no problem either. I don’t think it matters so far, says Mazet about the elbow injury. – It looked reasonably good, and in terms of shooting it looked good. We have to be optimists, says Lunde.
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