Biathlon: a recalcitrant pickaxe ball for Anna Gandler in the Kontiolahti relay
It’s an image that wasn’t broadcast by the international media during the women’s biathlon World Cup relay in Kontiolahti (Finland). During the prone shot for the second relay runners, Austria’s Anna Gandler had a terrible time on her mat.
“I put a pickaxe bullet in and it got stuck in my rifle, she told Nordic Magazine on Sunday evening. I don’t know how that could have happened… It was a panic and I even thought of raising my hand [to call for help from the stewards who brought her her team’s reserve rifle, editor’s note] because I had no chance of getting the bullet out.”
Finally, before taking this radical decision, Anna Gandler decided to get down on her knees, raise her chest and shake her 22 Long Rifle to get that damn ball moving. But to no avail. “I ended up removing the magazine and, fortunately, the pickaxe bullet fell with it. So I was able to carry on shooting”, enthused Emilien Claude’s girlfriend from the Vosges.
In the end, she got away with two picks… but stayed 1 min 08 on her mat and 1 min 31 sec 5 in the shooting zone. These very high times meant that Austria lost precious time. Despite this, Anna Gandler and her team-mates, buoyed by a great Lisa Theresa Hauser, were fifth at the finish line.
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