by Almost ten years after his first world cup victory, Tarjei Boe is back atop the podium.
Tarjei Boe did a brilliant race, producing the second fastest skiing time, even faster than his younger brother Johannes. As he hit ten of ten, it was obvious that he would be hard to beat.
Our biathlon model saw him as the second most likely winner with about an eleven percent chance to win before the race started.
The model was more surprised that Germany’s Arnd Peiffer took second place. Peiffer hit 10 of 10 and was fast on the skis with the fifth fastest skiing time of the day. Our model gave him about a ten percent chance of finishing on the podium.
Johannes Thingnes Boe was third having missed a shot in the prone shooting session.He skied fast, but even so a touch slower than usual when measured against his competitors. The third fastest skiing time of the day is very good, but he is usually even faster.
Johannes Thingnes Boe improved his chances of winning the IBU biathlon overall world cup and is now up to about a 93 percent chances according to our simulations.
Benjamin Weger did a very good race, hitting ten of ten, and was only six seconds too slow to make the podium.
Erlend Bjoentegaard was the second last starter, but did very well to finish in fifth.
Jakov Fak continued his strong start to the season in sixth.
Martin Ponsiluoma missed three targets, but as he was the fastest on the skis this race, he still managed to a top ten as he finished in ninth. He really has been skiing very fast so far this season.
The French team’s poor start to the season continued with no French athlete among the top ten. Fabien Claude still did well finishing in eleventh place.
Quentin Fillon Maillet finished all the way down in 30th, but this was due to his three shooting misses. His skiing speed took a small step in the right direction.
The Russian team also disappointed with Eliseev skiing very slowly on the last lap after hitting all the targets and Loginov missing three.
As usual the IBU have uploaded some highlights to their youtube account:
The press conference with the three athletes who made the podium is available below:
