Andersen and Femsteinevik deliver a double IBU Cup sprint victory for Norway

IBU Cup

08 Jan 2022

Norway's Andersen and Femsteinevik sweep IBU Cup sprints

With beautiful sunshine warming the athletes in the crispy -8C temperature in Brezno-Osrblie, the conditions for the men’s 10 km sprint were fast and icy. Norway’s clean-shooting Aleksander Fjeld Andersen made the most of the day adding another IBU Cup win to his collection winning in 23:16.3. Doubling it up for Norway, Ragnhild Femsteinevik closed all ten targets in the women’s 7.5 km sprint, taking the win in 19:30.2.

Men's sprint competition

Aleksander Fjeld Andersen enjoying the win, the remaining two podium places went to Russia with Nikita Porshnev and Ilnaz Mukhamedzianov, both clean shooters, in second and third place respectively, 21 seconds and 26.9 seconds back.

Aleksander Fjeld Andersen - the man of the day

The leader already from the prone stage, things seemed promising for the Norwegian, but there were still plenty of men also aiming for the shiniest result. While Erlend Bjoentegaard of Norway was the fastest man to arrive at prone, it was Andersen who took the lead after Bjoentegaard had to ski three penalty loops. Just .9 seconds behind Andersen, teammate Haavard Gutuboe Bogetveit also cleaned in second. It was not only the Norwegians who wanted to get to the podium. Germany’s David Zobel and Justus Strelow also cleaned in third and fourth respectively. Porshnev and Mukhamedizianov also closed all five targets, but being slower on skis on the first loop they were after the prone, 17 seconds behind the leading Norwegian.

As it is very often in biathlon, things started to change in the standing stage. Leader upon arrival, Bogetveit collected two standing penalties and was out of the game. At the same time, Porshnev and Mukhamedzianov had climbed up to 8th and 9th before standing and showing once again a steady hand they moved second and third respectively. The two Germans, Strelow and Zobel each collected a penalty, leaving the range in 4th and 8th. Andersen keeping his focus, cleaned standing with ease, taking a huge 28-second lead, making it clear as day that he would win.

Andersen on his confident win: “From the start of the race I knew that I had to go all out from the start and that I needed to keep up with the fastest guys. I did that and I managed to have fast first and second loop and I was clean on both shootings so when I went out to the last loop and I heard that I was leading with 27 seconds, I felt that I didn’t need to give it all on the last loop so I probably will have some extra power tomorrow.”

Good day for the Russian team

Things were unclear regarding the remaining two podium spots and it was the ski speed that determined the outcome. While Strelow was fourth after the one standing penalty, just 2.5 seconds behind Mukhamedzianov, he faded on the last loop claiming ninth place in the finish, Zobel who also earned a standing penalty showed a great ski speed placing fourth, 28.9 seconds back. Porshnev and Mukhamedzianov managed to keep their post-shooting positions placing second and third respectively.

Clean-shooting Norway’s Sverre Dahlen Aspenes came in fifth, 30.2 seconds behind. After one standing penalty, Vasiili Tomshin of Russia completed the flower ceremony by finishing in sixth place, 30.3 seconds back.

Women’s sprint competition

With no-one standing a chance against Femsteinevik, the fight was for the second and third place. France’s Gilonne Guigonnat closed all her targets finishing second, 49.2 seconds behind the Norwegian. Femsteinevik’s teammate Juni Arnekleiv closed ten targets as well to finish third, 55.2 seconds back.

Femsteinevik’s solo

Already first upon entering prone, Femsteinevik's confidence boosted even more after closing all five targets, leaving the range with a 7.8 second lead over Natalia Ushkina of Romania, second at that time. Sweden’s young Sara Andersson was also in the fight for a great result after closing all five targets and in third after the prone stage. A late-starter, Arnekleiv was fourth, Caroline Colombo of France fifth and Guigonnat sixth.

No-one was able to match the speed of Femsteinevik, who widened her lead to 16.7 seconds by the start of the standing stage. Andersson was still second while Colmbo had pushed herself to third, Arnekleiv started the shooting in fourth, Guigonnat was far behind in 12th position. Standing round deciding the outcome, the pressure was on. Femsteinevik, even though she thought that the last shot was a miss, cleaned taking a 38.3 second lead just before the last loop. Enjoying the lead, Femsteinevik arrived at the finish adding another win for the Norwegians.

Ragnhild Femsteinevik, on her confident win, “The conditions were very fast and that was perfect for me because I like hard tracks. I felt very confident in both shootings, but I think I had almost a miss on the last target. I thought it was a mistake, but then I looked up and I saw that it went down. At that point I was thinking that maybe it is time to win today. The Norwegians were very fast today because the waxers did a great job!”

The fight for the podium

With Femsteinevik out of the way, the fight started for second and third place. Andersson lost her nerve collecting two penalties and Colmbo one, the door was open for the others to fight for the podium. Eighth before standing, Elisabeth Hoegberg of Sweden cleaned for the second time rising to third. Arnekleiv, also clean, found herself on the second position and Guigonnat, shooting clean as well, pushed herself to fourth. With all three athletes within 5 seconds, everything was still possible, and the result of the competition was to be determined on the last loop.

Guigonnat proved to be the fastest of the three claiming second place. Arnekleiv despite losing the advantage to the French, managed to finish in third pushing Hoegberg to the fourth place who finished 57 seconds behind the winner. Camille Bened, after closing all the ten targets, came in fifth, 57.2 seconds back. Also clean-shooting Russia’s Viktoria Slivko finished sixth, 57.8 seconds back.