Amandine Mengin of France and Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won in the Pursuits at the IBU Cup in Arber. Mengin, with a 39/40 shooting performance for the week, won twice and had one second place finish in Arber while Dale-Skjevdal won both sprints and pursuit.

Mengin collects second win in just her third IBU Cup race

Mengin delivered a flawless performance to claim victory in the women's competition, completing the race with perfect shooting score 20/20 and a winning time of 28:20.4. Norway's Ragnhild Femsteinevik secured second place despite two penalties (0+1+1+0), finishing 30.4 seconds behind after a strong skiing effort. Voldiya Paulin Galmace, another young French standout, rounded out the podium in third place with two misses (1+0+1+0), finishing 47.9 seconds back.

THE WINNER’S WORDS - AMANDINE MENGIN

In fourth place, France’s Camille Bened showcased her consistency with clean shooting until the final stage (0+0+0+2), crossing the finish line 56.3 seconds behind Mengin. Norway’s Marthe Krakstad Johansen followed closely in fifth, with two misses (1+0+1+0), just 0.7 seconds behind Bened in a tightly contested race. Sophie Chauveau, representing France, overcame four penalties (0+1+2+1) to secure sixth place but trailed 1:09.7 back.

The Sprint winner Gillone Guigonnat cut her race short after first shooting stage, feeling unease in her upper body.

Winning in the Pursuit, Dale-Skjevdal does 3/3 in Arber

In the men’s competition, Dale-Skjevdal claimed a commanding victory with a time of 31:10.4, showcasing impressive consistency and control throughout the race, missing only two targets. Close behind, Isak Frey secured second place, finishing 17.6 seconds back. Frey’s clean shooting and strong skiing kept him competitive, but he could not close the gap to the leader. Taking third, David Zobel from Germany delivered a solid performance, crossing the finish line 1:37.3 behind Dale-Skjevdal.

THE WINNER’S WORDS - JOHANNES DALE-SKJEVDAL

Further down the rankings, Sverre Dahlen Aspenes finished fourth, trailing by 2:00.3, but struggled with five missed targets, which significantly hindered his podium chances. Fifth place went to Sivert Guttorm Bakken, whose three misses resulted in a final deficit of 2:03.0, narrowly behind Aspenes. Rounding out the top six, Vettle Paulsen faced challenges on the shooting range with four misses, ending his race 2:17.2 off the lead

Photo: H. Deubert: IBU Photo Pool