Botn and Bondoux win Pursuits in Sjusjoen

IBU Cup

15 Dec 2023

Botn and Bondoux win Pursuits in Sjusjoen

Johan Olav Botn of Norway, for the fifth time this winter, and Anaelle Bondoux of France, for the first time in her career, are the Pursuit winners in Sjusjoen.

Botn takes over as Kaiser suddenly fades

Botn started the Pursuit as second fastest after the Sprint and relied on his superb skiing to keep coming back and chase the leader, Simon Kaiser of Germany. After the first standing stage, Kaiser's shape started to deteriorate, and Botn took over the race in grand style, cleaning the last five targets for a win in 33:09.6. Second place went to the fastest skier of the day, Martin Uldal, who missed two shots and finished 10 seconds behind his teammate. Martin Nevland completed the all-Norwegian podium in third place, 23.4 seconds behind Botn.

The Winner's words - Johan Olav Botn

It was a very dynamic race. I tactically took more time on the shooting range, waiting for a showdown with Kaiser on the last shoot. As he unexpectedly started to fade, Uldal started to edge closer. It was a solid performance, enough for a fifth win of the season.

Watch Men's Pursuit Highlights here

Mats Oeverby of Norway, with four misses, finished fourth, 43.4 seconds behind Botn. Lucas Fratzscher of Germany, with 19/20, finished fifth, 47.2 seconds behind. Isak Frey of Norway, shooting 17/20, finished sixth, 1:08.3 behind Botn.

Botn stayed atop the Total Score standings.

Bondoux’s first-ever 20/20 for her first-ever IBU Cup win

Earlier in the day, Anaelle Bondoux of France took the Women's Pursuit in Sjusjoen for her first-ever IBU Cup win. Ida Lien of Norway finished second, and Stina Nilsson of Sweden third.

Bondoux, fifth after the Sprint, took the lead after the second prone stage and never looked back. She cleared all 20 targets for the first time in her career and won in 31:51.3. Still recovering from the back injury and 16th after the Sprint, Ida Lien shot 19/20 and finished 26 seconds behind Bondoux. Nilsson had the best day of the season on the shooting range, missing two shots in the first prone stage for a third-place finish, 42.6 seconds behind Bondoux.

The Winner's words - Anaelle Bondoux

It is my first 20/20 ever shooting, including training. It feels incredible to get a first-ever win in the IBU Cup in the Pursuit. I have trained with Oceane Michelon and Jeanne Richard for the whole summer, and we push each other in the training and competition.

Watch Women's Pursuit Highlights here

The fastest skier of the day, Julia Tannheimer of Germany - despite four misses - finished fourth, 1:19.6 minute behind Bondoux. Jenny Enodd of Norway was the only other athlete who cleared all 20 targets: she climbed from 26th after the Sprint and finished fifth, 1:24.6 minutes behind the French winner. Jeanne Richard, with 16/20, completed the Flower ceremony, 1:32.9 minutes behind her teammate.

Richard has 65 point lead over Enodd atop the Total Score standings.