Slovenia’s Jakov Fak, shot clean, surged into the lead after the last standing stage of this afternoon’s Pokljuka Men’s 15 km Short Individual, pulling away for a home stadium 40:52.6 victory. Fak’s win was his first since 2015 when he also won the IBU World Championships Mass Start and his first home victory since taking the Pokljuka Sprint on 13 December 2012.

“Perfect race…no so perfect conditions”

Today’s win made Fak the second-oldest World Cup winner behind the legendary Ole Einar Bjorndalen. He admitted it was, “A perfect race in not so perfect conditions. I think this is a big thank you to the organizers and to everybody who had the will and endured these conditions, the rain and everything. I am pretty happy and pretty proud of myself.”

“Daddy, are you going to win the race?”

Fak’s three daughters, all under the age of nine saw him win for the first time ever. “It’s quite emotional. Still, I need to settle down the emotions. But I’m proud that I could win a race in front of my children. They always say, ‘Daddy, are your going to win the race? I say it’s not so easy anymore, but I will try.’ I always do my best. I don’t succeed a lot of times, but I am very proud I did today.”

Laegreid wins World Cup Individual Score; Returns to Yellow

Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, with one penalty finished second, 34.1 seconds back, giving him the World Cup Individual Score small Crystal Globe. Laegreid’s second vaulted him back into the Yellow Bib with 1006 points while teammate JT Boe in 10th place fell into second with 967 points.

Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma, with two penalties finished in a season-best third place, 44.3 seconds back. Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel, with two penalties, finished fourth, 51.2 seconds back. Laegreid’s teammate Johannes Dale Skjevdal finished in a season-best fifth place with one penalty, 1:24.4 back. France’s Quentin Fillon Maill with three penalties, finished sixth, 1:48.3 back. Heavy precipitation fell during the competition; the tracks remained slow and deep. JT and Fak both cleaned the first prone with the same time. Laegreid then shot faster for a 5-second lead and later Ponsiluoma jumped into second.

JT blew through the first standing, extending his lead; Fak again matched, 7.9 seconds slower. Giacomel had a penalty, but went into third, 25 seconds back.

Snow, Sleet and Victory

With heavy sleet and snow falling in the second prone, Fak shot faster than JT, taking a 13-second lead. Laegreid again shot faster than his rivals, going out in the top spot. Fak cleaned the last standing to seal the win as JT fell back and Laegreid moved into second with Ponsiluoma skiing his way into third place.

Photos: IBU/Jaroslav Svoboda, Nordic Focus