“After the final shooting…I got emotional”

Soerum cleaned the last standing stage, knew victory was imminent, and got emotional. “It’s amazing; perfect race. Already after the final shooting and final lap, I got emotional so I had to get myself together and breathe and go to the finish line. At the first timing point; I knew I would get a win. It is emotional. I have been so close this year (five Flower Ceremonies). I have done biathlon pretty but have not gotten the top results yet. Now I have it and it feels amazing!”

“Endre, one of my best friends”

He was greeted at the finish by teammate and good friend Endre Stroemsheim, who finished 18th. “I knew when I crossed that I had it. Endre is one of my best friends. We have trained together for the last 10 years. He is amazing and my dad was in the tribune also (making it a memorable day).”

“Finally on the podium”

Claude shot clean for his first-ever World Cup podium, improving from a career-best 8th in the Oberhof Sprint. The 25-year-old triple IBU Junior World Champion was stunned, “I cannot believe it! I did not feel it coming. It is incredible. I did not feel good on the track in the beginning of the race so told myself, ‘it is not your day, so go slow and shoot clean.’ I was incredible behind the rifle…the shape was better…and finally on the podium.”

Latvia’s Andrejs Rastorgujevs, with one penalty had his second-best ever result in third, 56.8 seconds back. Fourth place Niklas Hartweg recorded his season best and second best result ever, shooting clean, 1:20.5 back. Czechia’s Vitezslav Hornig also shooting clean finished in a personal best 5th place, 1:31.3 back. Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson, with two penalties finished sixth, 1:42 back.