Biathlon: Olli Hiidensalo signs the best race of his career
On Wednesday, at the World Biathlon Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), a Finn came out on top. ” Olli Hiidensalo won the race of his life”, was the headline on Yle, the Nordic country’s television channel. The moustachioed man, who was ill before the world championships, finished fourth in the individual race won by Éric Perrot. He dedicated his race to his son. Last December, he became a father, a few days after contributing to the Finnish team’s 5ᵉ place in the men’s biathlon world cup relay in Kontiolahti (Finland).
“I started slowly, my split times were far from the best”, he said after crossing the finish line. But the representative of Fennoscandie, who was feeling “a little tense”, nevertheless managed to maintain “a steady pace right up to the last lap”.
In the final minutes, however, he realised that he would not be able to catch bronze medallist Quentin Fillon-Maillet. Fifteen seconds separated the two men in the end. At the start of the final lap, the gap was just three seconds.
No matter, for Finnish coach Erik Torneus Kulstad, his colt experienced “a magical moment”.
This result is by far the best of his career. In the World Cup, he has never finished better than 11th, which was at the sprint in Hochfilzen (Austria) in December 2021.
Born in 1991, Olli Hiidensalo is no newcomer to the sport. In 2016, he won the gold medal in the mixed relay at the Summer Biathlon World Championships in Otepää (Estonia). He took part in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (South Korea) and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (China).
In Graubünden, he had so far finished 31ᵉ in the sprint and 38ᵉ in the pursuit.
The biathlete has also competed in cross-country skiing, including a World Cup event in February 2016 in Lahti (Finland).
