Fichtner breaks French-Norwegian IBU Cup duopoly, takes Pursuit in Geilo
Marlene Fichtner of Germany and of Martin Uldal Norway are the winners of the Pursuit competitions at the IBU Cup in Geilo, Norway. Fichtner triumphed for the first time in the IBU Cup. Her win was also the first win for Germany in the IBU Cup this winter and the first win - among women or men - that didn’t land in the Norwegian or French lap. Uldal shot his first-ever 20/20.
A premier IBU Cup win for Fichtner
Fichtner delivered the best performance of her career in Geilo, doubling down on her second place in the Sprint and winning the Pursuit with clean shooting and a time of 30:22.2. France's Chloé Chevalier claimed second place, finishing 24.5 seconds behind despite two penalties. Paula Botet, also from France, took third place with four penalties, crossing the line 35.2 seconds back. Botet retained the lead atop the Total Score standings.
THE WINNER’S WORDS - MARLENE FICTHNER
It was a perfect race for me with 20 hits out of 20 shots. It is in the moments like this that you know why you work so hard and that hard work pays off. I will celebrate with my team, we might drink something together. Then we all need to rest before the next competition.
Johanna Skottheim from Sweden secured fourth place with a strong shooting performance, finishing 41.6 seconds behind the winner. Norway's Marit Oeygard and Siri Skar rounded out the Top 6, skiing three penalty loops but showing strong resistance to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.
IBU Cup 2 Geilo - Pursuits
Uldal’s career-first IBU Cup Sprint-Pursuit double
Uldal’s perfect shooting performance enabled him to withstand relentless attacks from one of the fastest skiers in biathlon, Johan Olav Botn, and brought him his first-ever IBU Cup Pursuit with a time of 32:44.0. Botn, also from Norway, claimed second place just 6.5 seconds behind, with one penalty keeping him from the top spot. Sverre Dahlen Aspenes completed the Norwegian podium sweep, finishing third despite three penalties and trailing by 1:53.8.
THE WINNER’S WORDS - MARTIN ULDAL
I have felt really confident in the shooting range lately. After every mistake I have made, I said to myself, you can do better than that. Despite the pressure today, I felt comfortable entering the race. I didn’t realise I could hit all 20 targets before the last shooting. I will rest a little bit next week and play some video games.
Germany's Simon Kaiser took fourth place, showing stable form but finishing 2:08.0 behind with two missed shots. Isak Frey of Norway came in fifth, 2:24.4 back, also with two penalties. Germany's Roman Rees rounded out the Top 6, battling three penalties to finish 2:36.5 behind.
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Photo: Marius Nordnes: IBU Photo Pool
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