Biathlon: a perfect race, but not enough for Sturla Holm Lægreid
The start of the World Biathlon Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) has not been kind to Sturla Holm Lægreid. This Sunday, in the pursuit, the Norwegian took fourth place despite a superb 20/20 on the shooting range. The leader of the overall World Cup ranking is circling around this medal.
Over the fortnight, the Scandinavian has already taken fourth place in the mixed relay on Wednesday and finished in the top 10 in the sprint on Saturday. Starting in ninth place, 20 seconds off the podium, the 27-year-old biathlete did everything he could to win the medal. As soon as the downhill shots were fired, he began his comeback with a masterful 10/10 to finish in fifth place.
The Norwegian then took the first standing shot in the company of Fabien Claude. Taking advantage of two errors by Tommaso Giacomel – who was in third place at the time – and two mistakes by the Vosgien, Sturla Holm Lægreid climbed to third place on the podium.
Beaten by a wild Eric Perrot
But on the fourth lap, he saw the return of the overjoyed Eric Perrot, who came out 11 seconds behind him after the third shot. The Franco-Norwegian duo came out for the final salvo. It was the moment chosen by Eric Perrot to put in a perfect, ultra-fast performance.
Sturla Holm Lægreid still proved to be very solid with a 5/5, but the damage had been done. He came out 4 seconds behind the Frenchman, but was unable to come back and had to be content with fourth place.
On the podium, he could watch his compatriot, Johannes Thingnes Boe, become the most successful individual biathlete in history. Despite his place at the foot of the podium, Sturla Holm Lægreid was still smiling and laughing at the biathlon legend’s domination. “I can’t explain it. But he doesn’t impress me that much either, because everyone expects him to win gold,” he laughed to VG.
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