The victory in the sprint discipline was won by the Norwegian Sturl Holm Legreid, who was unmistakable in both lines of fire, overtaking his closest follower Juhannes Dahl by 7.9 seconds. Another Norwegian leader in the standings, Juhann Tinggnes, lost 19.9 seconds to his compatriot because he made two mistakes in the shooting range.
Immediately behind the podium was another Norwegian Vetle Shostad Kristiansen, followed by Swede Sebastian Samuelson, while the sixth place was won by the Ukrainian Dmitro Pidručny. The next two places were taken by the French Kentens Fillon Maye and Emilien Jacquel.
Rastorgujev started with the first number on Thursday and made one mistake in the first line of fire. After 5.6 kilometers, the athlete was in 42nd position. In the second shooting range, Rastorgujev made two more mistakes, which placed him in the 61st position. One kilometer to the finish, Rastorgujev climbed to the 59th place, but reached the finish in the 60th position.
Latvia’s leading biathlete only qualified for the hair court in a running competition, in which 60 athletes, who have shown the best results in the sprint, usually start.
Edgar Mise made a mistake once in the first shooting range, but was unmistakable in the second and finished in 94th place. He lost three minutes and 53.6 seconds to the winner. Meanwhile, Aleksandrs Patrijuks did not cover two goals in the first line of fire, but three more in the second, ranking 102nd in the sprint. He lost less than four and a half minutes to the winner.
Rastorguyev had the 44th fastest step on the track, Patrijuks showed the 92nd fastest time, and Mass – 104th among 108 athletes.
One of Germany’s leading biathletes Arnds Paifers also returned to the World Cup after one stage. Last Friday, the Olympic champion withdrew from the competition for personal reasons.
Last year, Rastorgujev won the highest result in the sprint on the Czech track Nove Mesto, where he took the 22nd place. In the first stage of the World Cup this season, right in Kontiolahti, he ranked 23rd in the ten-kilometer sprint with two errors lying in the shooting range, but in the second stage he was ranked 42nd with the same “poodles”.
Subsequently, in Hohfilzen, Rastorguyev made a total of three mistakes in the shooting range, taking the 36th position.
In 2018, the Aluksne resident Kontiolahti won silver in the sprint, which he is still only one of the two podium honors in his career, reaching the other in the distance with a joint start.
Renārs Birkentāls and Kirils Matjuhins also took part in the first sprint competitions of the season, ranking 88th and 96th, respectively. In the second stage, Roberts Slotiņš was in 79th place, while Matjuhins was 98. Meanwhile, in Hohfilzen, Misem was 72nd place, which is the best performance of his career, but Slotiņš was in the 95th position.
The broom has achieved all its best results in the World Cup in sprint, ranking 71st in the Russian stage in Khanty-Mansiysk in the 2015/2016 season. Meanwhile, the Mass in Hohfilzen will only host its second race of the season.
In the last two seasons, the Mass has started three times in the PK stages in sprint, taking the places from 83 to 96.
Leading the World Cup sprint with 199 points is JTB, Dale has scored 21 points less, while Samuelon is following with 157 points. Rastorgujev takes the 41st position with 23 points.
In the overall ranking of all disciplines with 344 points, the leader is JTB, Samuelson has accumulated 286 points, while Dale finishes the leading three with 276 points. Rastorgujev takes the 36th position with 63 points.
Last season, the Small Crystal Globe in the sprint discipline was won by Frenchman Martin Furkad, who said goodbye to biathlon. Norwegian Juhann Tinggnes Bä triumphed in the overall ranking of all disciplines.
On Friday, the World Cup will continue with the ladies’ 7.5-kilometer sprint, while driving and mass start disciplines are expected on Saturday and Sunday.
The Latvian national team participated in an unusual composition in the first two stages.
It has already been reported that biathlete Baiba Bendika and the head coach of the national team Ilmārs Bricis, who did not participate in the first two stages of the World Cup, had positive tests at the Covid-19 training camp in Sweden.
Roberts Slotiņš, Annija Keita Sabule and Andrejs Rastorgujevs were the first to arrive in Kontiolahti. Athletes in Sweden – Aleksandrs Patrijuks, Sanita Buliņa and Edgars Mise – went home as a precaution, but in Finland juniors Rūdis Balodis, Renārs Birkentāls, Kirils Matjuhins and Ieva Pūce joined the team in the first stage of the World Cup. Intars Berkulis was the head coach of Kontiolahti in the first two stages.
Two World Cup stages will take place in Hohfilzen in December. Athletes will start the new year with two stages in Oberhof, but a stage in Antholc is planned next. Pokļuka will host the world championship in February, followed by two stages in Nove Mesto, and the end of the season is scheduled for the second half of March in Oslo.
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