Anyone who believed that the Norwegian biathletes would often make room for other nations on the podium at this year’s World Championships was able to put that misconception to rest after the first week in Nove Mesto at the latest. Before the individual race this Wednesday (5:20 p.m. on ZDF and Eurosport) the only question that remains is: which Norwegian will be on the top podium this time?
A year ago the answer would have been simpler: Johannes Thingnes Bö. The five-time Olympic champion traveled to the World Championships in Oberhof with eleven victories in 15 races (excluding the relays), where he won seven medals, including five gold ones.
However, the current season got off to a rocky start for him: a fall during preparation, a snake bite while working in the garden, a lack of muscle strength and problems with his elbow. He left the first World Cup weekend in Östersund with 18th place in the sprint and 15th place in the pursuit. In mid-December in Hochfilzen he started the competition with three shooting errors in the sprint. To achieve his first win of the season a day later and talk about the pressure that was on him: “After last season it was clear that only victories are good enough. The first one after such a season is the most difficult.”
Diametral shape curve
Taking it race by race and getting back into the competitive rhythm was the key to success. At the World Championships in the Czech Republic, after winning the silver medal in the sprint, he successfully defended his world title in the pursuit – ahead of four of his compatriots. “Winning against these guys is a great achievement,” said Bö later, explaining his team’s racing tactics: “We know our strength. It’s better to take risks than to play it safe.”
The German biathletes actually wanted to take risks this season – especially at the shooting range. During their preparation, they repeatedly practiced rapid shooting under competitive pressure. At the start of the World Cup it looked like they could keep up with the Norwegians. But now the shape curves are diametrically opposed.
While the Germans ended the first week of the World Cup without a medal, it wasn’t just Johannes Thingnes Bö who found his way back to his old strength among the Norwegians. The five-time world champion from 2021, Sturla Holm Laegreid and Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen, who has come third twice in Nove Mesto and won the first individual medals of his career, are also among the favorites in the individual competition over 20 kilometers, the longest and toughest World Cup -Run.
Shock during dry training
The hierarchy in the team was recently shaken up by 26-year-old Laegreid, who achieved a coup with his sprint victory on Saturday. He also struggled with health problems at the start of the season. At the World Cup in Lenzerheide shortly before Christmas, he suddenly had to deal with the police: A shot accidentally came off his competition weapon during dry training in the hotel and landed in a stool. Although no one was injured, Laegreid’s shock was evident in an interview he gave to the Norwegian TV station NRK in tears.
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“After I got the physical problems under control by Christmas, the mental stress came from the incident in Lenzerheide,” he said in Nove Mesto. After the turn of the year he had come to terms with that and seemed to have come out of all the hustle and bustle feeling stronger: “I found the old Sturla again,” he said. He had only briefly interrupted Bö’s dominance. After the two swapped places one and two again in the pursuit, Laegreid wrote on Instagram: “I kept the throne warm just for you.”
Whether it’s snake bites, wanderings or other setbacks – the Norwegian biathletes are so stable because they can be sure: at least one of them always makes it to the podium. And because for them mental training is as normal as working at the shooting range and on the running track: “If you have a problem with your teeth, you go to the dentist,” said Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen, “if you have a mental problem, go you to the psychologist.”
