Biathletes were reaching for a medal at the World Championships. They only lost it in the last section – ČT sport – Czech Television

The Czech relay team was led by Michal Krčmář and especially the youngsters Tomáš Mikyska and Jakub Štvrtecký. They hardly made a mistake on the shooting range in extremely difficult conditions, they did great on the track. Štvrtecký even flew past Frenchman Jacquelin in his section. He passed to Jonáš Mareček on the last stretch with a lead of ten seconds.

But the young Mareček was in a very difficult situation and was losing in competition with the biggest stars of the biathlon field. In addition, he had to go through two penalty rounds and in the end there were no medals left for the Czech team. Mareček brought the Czech colors in the “potato” place, 24 seconds short of the bronze.

The Czech representatives were mixed with pride and disappointment. “It’s bittersweet, even though we’re happy. I was already fourth. Unfortunately, I’m sorry,” Krčmář evaluated the relay. “I didn’t manage it completely in that wind. Then I got a little lost in it. I’m sorry that I didn’t manage it,” added the Czech finisher Mareček.

The French relay celebrates the gold before the silver Norwegians. The bronze belongs to the Swedes.

How was the race?

The Czech quartet was started by Michal Krčmář, who did not do badly at all and at one point led the entire race. He made a single mistake on the range, which in very windy conditions could not be said of many of his rivals. The most experienced member of the Czech team handed over to Tomáš Mikysk for the second leg, practically in contact with the leader of France.

The Czechs went second and it was up to the young Mikysko to keep them near the front. And he did bravely. Mikyska shot the first item cleanly, went ahead of the French and rode in first place with a lead of ten seconds. After three recharges on the second item, he did not lose his positions and ran together with the Frenchman Claude in the first two places. He passed first.

And Jakub Štvrtecký also had a great ride, keeping pace with the third French Jacqueline. They rode together until the second shooting, where the Czech biathlete made one more mistake (2), but was still only seven seconds behind his opponent. At the same time, the other relay teams made mistake after mistake in very difficult conditions and were already losing significantly.

In addition, Štvrtecký performed one of the fastest performances on the track: he flew over Jacquelin and the Czechs were once again in the lead. They were leading by eleven seconds in front of persistent France, the third Norway was driving together with Sweden and was already losing 50 seconds. Jonáš Mareček went to the track, the pressure was great. In addition, Fillon Maillet, Johannes Bö and the Swede Samuelsson are among the opponents.

Mareček was in a difficult situation and was the first of the Czechs to fail on the shooting range: he went lying down for two penalty laps and the relay suddenly fell to fourth place. She was already done with it, even though Mareček was able to shoot the final item with only one mistake. The French won ahead of the advancing Norway and bronze medalist Sweden.