Biathlon: a fine comeback means silver for the Norwegians
On Saturday, in the women’s relay at the Biathlon World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), everything started perfectly for Norway. With a perfect shot, Karoline Knotten got her team off to the best possible start, just over 17 seconds behind first place held by France after Lou Jeanmonnot’s excellent first run.
And yet, whenIngrid Landmark Tandrevold took off, the skies quickly darkened for the Scandinavians. In great difficulty at these World Championships, where she was copiously insulted on social networks after her failure in the mixed relay, the 28-year-old biathlete first of all stumbled twice on her downhill run. But her first shot had no real consequences.
However, things quickly got complicated for the leader of the women’s group during the standing start. Under pressure, she took a penalty lap which relegated her team to almost 50 seconds off the podium at the end of her final lap.
“I’m really trying to do everything I can. I did my best in the last lap to make up time,” she told NRK in the mixed zone. Unfortunately, it was the other girls in the relay who bore the brunt of my mistakes today.
But Norway should not be buried too quickly. Ragnhild Femsteinevik, who was in fine form on her skis and still full of confidence after winning silver with Johannes Thingnes Boe in the mixed singles relay two days earlier, was only able to find the net twice to get the red armada back on track.
“I was still a bit stressed at the idea of being caught up”.Maren Kirkeeide at NRK
Lining up in the last relay position for her first appearance at a senior world championships, the young Maren Kirkeeide proved that she already has all the makings of a great one. Taking advantage of the many mistakes made by her opponents, the 21-year-old biathlete only had to make one small mistake and maintained a healthy lead, enabling her team to take silver.
The performance of her boss was praised by legend Marte Olsbu Roeiseland : “I don’t understand how she manages to keep her nerve in this situation. She shoots like she’s done it a thousand times before,” says the woman who now works as a consultant for NRK.
The pressure was palpable , but the young woman didn’t let it show: “It was really cool to finish that stint and do that last lap. Even though I still had a 40-second lead, I was still a bit stressed at the idea of being caught up”, she confided to our journalists.
Read also
- Lenzerheide : Lou Jeanmonnot, Océane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon crowned world relay champions
- Dorothea Wierer supports Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold after the Norwegian was insulted on social networks
