Marte Olsbu Roeiseland increased her lead and collected the most points in one week for the first time, Quentin Fillon Maillet retook yellow bib from Emilien Jacquelin as no man has succeeded to enter and exit the same week as the Total Score leader this season, Belarus has become a force in women and mixed relays, China shot with excellence in both mixed relays and Norway ruled podiums in the IBU Cup.

Olsbu Roeiseland’s fist Week Score win of the year

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland won back-to-back competitions in Oberhof and increased her lead in the BMW IBU World Cup Total Standings to 88 points ahead of Elvira Oeberg and the rest. But week-to-week data somehow surprisingly shows that Oberhof was the first week in which the Norwegian collected the most points. Olsbu Roeiseland was third in Oestersund’s Season Opening week and second Oestersund week, and second in Hochfilzen and Annecy Le Grand Bornand weeks. Oberhof back-to-back wins were Marte’s second after her sprint-pursuit double in Nove Mesto na Morave in the 2018/2019 season.

A man has yet to survive a week in yellow

After his win in the mass start in Annecy Le Grand Bornand, Emilien Jacquelin arrived in Oberhof in a yellow bib and kept it for a few more days after finishing second in the sprint. Jacquelin was second after the first standing shooting in the pursuit, and it looked like he might be the first man to live in yellow for a week. It wasn’t to be. Jacquelin missed three times in the last standing and finished 14th while his teammate Quentin Fillon Maillet banked third consecutive pursuit with another comeback win with two early misses. Fillon Maillet joins Simon Desthieux, JT Boe (Simon and JT were joint Total Score leaders after week 1), Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen, Sebastian Samuelsson, and Jacquelin as a man who leaves a BMW World Cup week in yellow.

Belarus can shoot for two relay medals in Beijing 2022

Belarus is one of the most improved teams this season, with Dzinara Alimbekava third in the Total Score and Hanna Sola sixth (despite skipping the pursuit in Oberhof after she was second in the sprint) on the women’s side and Anton Smolski 12th among men. After finishing second in the women relay Hochfilzen, Belarus mixed relay finished second in Oberhof. Based on the shooting prowess of Alimbekava (89% accuracy; 94% in prone) and Hanna Sola’s excellent skiing speed (on average third fastest so far this season), Belarus can now target medals in both competitions at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 with quiet confidence.

China was the best shooting team in the relays

Mixed and Single Mixed Relays brought a lot of drama to the competitions in Oberhof. Sweden, one of the favourites in the mixed relay, skied three penalty loops, and it took another mind-blowing effort from Elvira Oeberg in the anchor leg to bring her team from the outskirts back on the very respectable fourth place. China, who finished 12th, was the best shooting team with just four reloads, two less than the winner Norway with the Boe brothers, Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold. It got even dicier in the Single Mixed Relays, where Anais Chevalier-Bouchet and Fabien Claude circled five times around the penalty loop and Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen and Ida Lien four times. China had four reloads and finished tenth. 

Norway goes 7 out of 12 for podiums in Brezno-Osrblie

Norway won three times and collected four additional podiums in two women and two men sprints at the IBU Cup in Brezno-Osrblie. Larisa Kuklina from Russia was the only non-Norwegian athlete with a top spot in Slovakia. She was the fastest in the second sprint. Ragnhild Femsteinvik won and was second, as the only athlete with two podiums in Osrblie. Norway has collected 21 out of 60 available individual Top 3 finishes since the beginning of the season. Russia has 15 as the second most successful nation in the IBU Cup.

Photo: IBU; C. Manzoni