Biathlon: the Worlds mixed relay lived up to its promise
The many spectators packed into the stands at the Roland Arena in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) enjoyed an eventful start to the Biathlon World Championships. On Wednesday, the opening mixed relay of the season’s flagship event was marked by a number of race incidents.
In the opening minutes, even before the first battle on the shooting range, Julia Simon found herself on the mat after getting tangled up in the capricious Swiss snow. ” I was just schussing along beside her and I got caught in a patch of snow. The piste is very difficult and it’s hard skiing because you sink so deep,” she explained afterwards to La Chaîne L’Équipe. My left foot clipped the right and I fell like a big girl on the Swede.
It was an inconsequential event because, even though the Savoyard took on Scandinavian Anna Magnusson in her misfortune, the Frenchwoman was crowned a few minutes later alongside Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin.
And the Villaraine wasn ‘t the only one to get a taste of the white Swiss coat. At the very end of the race, when he was duelling with Johannes Thingnes Boe after having thought he was on the podium for a while, Sebastian Samuelsson also crashed on the last bend of the course.
“I quickly realised that there wasn’t much room and that it was pretty icy”.Sebastian Samuelsson at SVT Sport
In wet conditions, the Swede was caught out by an icy part of the track: “I managed to get through just before the bend and I quickly realised that there wasn’t much room and that it was quite icy. In the end, it didn’t matter for today’s race”, he told SVT Sport.
A shooting range that trapped Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Hanna Oeberg
And when it wasn’t on the track, it was on the shooting range that the public and television viewers could turn for new twists and turns. Right from the first relay, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold had a real ordeal on her hands.
By visiting the penalty ring once on each of her runs to the targets, the Norwegian fell back into the same mistakes she made last year at this same event in Nove Mesto (Czech Republic). Mistakes that took Norway off the podium of a world mixed relay for the first time since 2017: “I feel bad for the team. It’s normal to be disappointed, but on a relay, there are other people who are also affected “, she pitied in front of the NRK cameras.
She wasn’ t the only one to have a bad time behind the rifle either. Hanna Oeberg, who was hoping to bring her country back into the fight for the podium, buckled under the pressure. After shooting a superb 5/5 in the prone round, the Swede lost her footing in the standing round.
“The longer I stayed on my feet, the more difficult it became and I started to shake and lose time”.Hanna Oeberg at SVT Sport
The 29-year-old biathlete, despite all her experience of major events, visited the penalty ring once. The longer I stayed on my feet, the harder it became and I started to shake and lose time,” she told SVT Sport. I’m very disappointed that I wasn’t able to get back on my feet to give the boys a chance to play in the top 3.
Read also
- Lenzerheide: France, with Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot, Eric Perrot and Emilien Jacquelin, retain their world mixed relay title
- “I don’t feel like I made a mistake”: Julia Simon recounts her collision with Sweden’s Anna Magnusson during the mixed relay in Lenzerheide
- “I feel bad for the team”: Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold’s two turns in the penalty circle were a real ordeal in the mixed relay at the world championships.
