Czechia’s Jacub Stvrtecky started the IBU SBWCH Men’s Sprint wearing bib number 1, carried all the way to the Gold medal in 18:15.1, with a single penalty.. Later in the afternoon, Tereza Vobornikova did what was necessary, shoot clean and ski very well to win the Women’s Sprint in 16:48.5.

Lie Wins Medal for Belgium

Like Vobornikova, Belgium’s Lotte Lie shot clean and with a furious last loop, won the Silver medal, .1 seconds back. Slovakia’s Paulina Batovska Fialkova, with one penalty won the Bronze medal, 13.5 seconds back.

Batovska-Fialkova started the sprint like yesterday, in the top spot after cleaning prone. Behind her, Vobornikova and Lie matched; Vobornikova three seconds faster. The Slovak came to standing, shot fast, missing once. Vobornikova changed everything, cleaning standing for the lead, then was matched by Lie. Vobornikova was in control in the last loop, cruising to victory. Lie challenged, but missed the Gold medal, pushing Batovska Fialkova into third.

Claude and Langer on Men’s Podium

Behind Stvrtecky, France’s Emilien Claude and Belgium’s Thierry Langer matched Stvrtecky on the range, winning the Silver and Bronze medals12.4 and 16.2 seconds back, respectively.

The Men’s Gold and Silver medals were decided early on a sunny afternoon with light winds on the range, setting up good shooting conditions. Stvrtecky and number 3 Claude both cleaned prone for the early lead, until Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs, typically aggressive, skied fast and shot zero, jumped ahead of the duo.

Standing determined the medals; starters 1 and 3 picked up a single standing miss while their Latvian rival missed two shots, going out of contention. Langer also missed one shot, leaving fourth, but with a strong last loop, jumped to third and the podium.

Three Ukrainian Medals in Junior Sprints

The Junior Men’s Sprint proved the importance of excellent shooting. Ukraine’s Vitalii Mandzyn, Sprint Silver medalist in Brezno last year shooting clean this year, taking the Gold medal in 18:28.9. Norwegians Haavard Tosterud and Sivert Gerhardsen, with two and one penalties, took Silver and Bronze, 41.3 and 51.1 seconds back, respectively. Gerhardsen is the reigning IBU Junior Mass Start 60 World Champion.

The Ukrainian team continued its medal run in the Junior Women’s Sprint, despite the Gold medal going to Bulgaria’s Valentina Dimitrova, with two penalties, in 1:03.9. Ukrainian Viktoriia Khvostenko shot clean, taking the Silver medal, a mere .6 seconds back with her teammate Olena Horodna, with two penalties, taking the Bronze medal, 18.5 seconds back.

Photos: IBU/Christian Manzoni