Biathlon: a historic first at the world championships for Greenlanders Ukaleq and Sondre Slettemark
On Thursday afternoon, far from the favourite nations and the victory of Quentin Fillon-Maillet and Julia Simon in the mixed singles relay at the World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), a piece of history was being written at the back of the class. Greenland was in fact starting a relay at the biathlon world championships for the very first time.
Unsurprisingly, it was Ukaleq Slettemark and his little brother Sondre Slettemark who were at the start of this race.
“It was an extraordinary race. The atmosphere was absolutely crazy, and it’s really something special, first of all, to start in mass-start. It’s so fast and difficult to pull with such a high heart rate, but it’s really cool to be able to do this race as a team. It’s something special because we always race for ourselves, and we’re a bit self-centred, so it was really nice to be able to do this relay with my brother”, explains the older sister to Nordic Magazine.
The only Greenlander to compete on the international circuit in recent years, she was due to share several stages this winter with her younger brother Sondre Slettemark. But at the start of the season, she crashed and injured her knee.
“Being here together and finishing this world championship in the best possible way was really, really cool, she enthuses. When I started the first lap, I thought, oh my god, this is way too fast. So I left a little gap with the group to make sure I didn’t fall off. I think that was pretty good, and I was able to follow the pace and come back because I’m generally good on the flats and downhills.”
They made it to the finish without being caught out by the French world champions
For the duo from the far north, there was only one objective at the start of this simple mixed relay: to reach the finish line without getting caught. “Even though the race wasn’t perfect, we weren’t in great shape and I went round the penalty ring, we achieved our goal,” enthused Sondre Slettemark.
It was in fact in twenty-third place, 3 min 37 sec 2 behind the French winners, that Greenland finished its race.
“I was jumping up and down and on the verge of tears when I realised that Sondre wasn’t going to be lapped, says Ukaleq Slettemark. It also shows that there is potential to form a very good mixed singles relay in the years to come. There are only two of us, we represent the Greenland team alone, and it would be really cool to fight for the top places in the future.”
In fans from Greenland, a mondovision crash in the finish area
And for once, the Slettemark siblings had fans lining the track.
“Some of the people we grew up with and trained with at our local club in Greenland came all the way to Lenzerheide to see us! There were, I think, seven people cheering us on and waving the Greenlandic flag, recalls Ukaleq Slettemark. It was really special to see them again! I hope this will help to make biathlon more important in Greenland.”
Finally, this mixed singles relay ended with Sondre Slettemark falling in the mondovision in the finish area. “I’m going to have to win a gold medal or something to be remembered as something other than the guy who can’t stay on his feet, he laughs. The rifle took a knock, but fortunately it wasn’t too serious and it’s already been repaired.”
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