Andrei Rastorgujev | Photo: facebook.com/Rastorgujevs
Latvian biathlete Andrejs Rastorgujevs took 83rd place in the third stage of the Biathlon World Cup in France in the third stage of the ten kilometer sprint competition with a total of five shooting errors and did not qualify for the pursuit.
The Norwegian Johannes Tingnes Bæ won the victory, who closed all the targets in both shootings and reached the finish line after 22 minutes and 52.2 seconds. The second place was taken by the winner’s compatriot Sturla Holm Lehreid, who, also shooting all the targets, was 17.6 seconds behind, while the top three, losing to JTBe by 38.8 seconds, was completed by the German Benedikts Dol.
Rastorgujev, who went on the track with number 13, had three penalty rounds in the first shooting, but he missed twice in the second firing line. He finished three minutes and 36.8 seconds behind the winner. On the track, the Latvian biathlete had the 46th fastest step, while the winner of the competition JTBē was the fastest.
On the other hand, Aleksandrs Patrijuks, making a mistake once in the first shooting and twice in the second, finished three minutes and 53.9 seconds later than the winner and ranked 88th. the winner four minutes and 13.3 seconds and finishing the race in 91st place. Latvian biathletes also did not reach the overall World Cup points.
Last week, after an 18-month suspension and winning the necessary points in the IBU Cup competition, Rastorgujev competed in his first World Cup this season. He won fifth place in the ten-kilometer sprint, only the sixth time in his career in the top five in this discipline, but then he finished 35th in the pursuit. Meanwhile, Mise was in the 77th place, and Patrijuks took the 100th position, both Latvians not qualifying for the pursuit, but a week before in the sprint of the first stage of the World Cup, they were among the last eight biathletes, occupying the 97th and 92nd place respectively.
A 7.5-kilometer sprint race for women is scheduled for Friday, a pursuit race for both women and men will be held on Saturday, while the third stage of the World Cup will conclude with a mass start for both sexes on Sunday. The fourth stage of the World Cup is scheduled in Slovenia, on the Pokljuka track from January 2 to 8, while the final of the ten World Cup competition stages is scheduled for March in Oslo.
