Prone shooting was disappointing. Latvia’s best biathlete, Andrejs Rastorgujevs, took the high 13th place in the shortened 15-kilometer individual distance at the World Cup (WK) stage in the Italian town of Antholts, with two errors in the shooting range from a prone position. PK points were also earned by Renārs Birkentāls, who missed the target with one shot and finished 29th. Aleksandar Patrijukas has four mistakes and 86th place. On Friday at 14.40 Latvian time, the competition for women will start in the shortened 12.5 km distance.
In Antholz, there is the last shot at PK level before the main competition of the season – the world championship, which will take place from February 7 to 18 in Nove Mesto. In the Latvian men’s team, before the main start of the season, not only the long-time leader of the national team, Rastorgujevs, but also Birkentāls, who has improved significantly this season, are pleased with their stability. Renard achieved his second highest World Cup finish on Thursday. At the PK stage in Oberhof, Birkenthal took 27th place in the 10 km sprint with a flawless shooting. Another Latvian biathlete entering the top 40 who win PK points is important when looking towards the next season. The general secretary of the Latvian Biathlon Federation, Juris Pīpkalējs, has set as one of the season’s goals the acquisition of four starting places for the next – pre-Olympic – season. To do this, it is important that not only Rastorgujevs accumulate points, but also the second number of the Latvian team.
In the 15 km individual distance, Rastorgujev lost the opportunity to fight for a place in the top six or even in the top three in the third shooting. Andrejs had shot flawlessly this season from the prone position, but this time two bullets flew past the targets, so the athlete hid from the shooting range, turning his head in confusion. In the shortened distance, with one mistake in the shooting range, 45 seconds are added to the result. A bullet missed at the usual distance of 20 km is assessed with one penalty minute. In the foggy weather, the athletes shot well in general. Patrijuks, the third member of the Latvian team, already missed three bullets “after milk” in the first shooting range.
On Friday, in the women’s 12.5 km competition, Baiba Bendika will start with number 26, Sanita Buliņa – with number 78 and Sandra Buliņa – with number 85.
Biathlon. Stage 6 of PK in Antholz (Italy).
Men 15 km 1. JT Bae 37:28.0 (0 faults), 2. T. Bae (both Norway) +1:36.1 (2), 3. J. Keen (Germany) +1:44.0… 13. A. Rastorgujevs +2:54.0 (2)… 29. R. Birkentāls +3:48.8 (1)… 86. A. Patrijuks (all Latvia) +8:23.0 ( 4). 103 started.
PK overall rating 1. JT Bä 761 points, 2. T. Bä 668 p., 3. J. Däle-Ševdals (Norway) 639 p. … 19. A. Rastorgujev 251 p. … 54. R. Birkenthal 33 p.
19.I 12.5 km for women (14.40) 20.I ind. mixed relay (13.55) 20.I mixed relay (15.45)
