The third IBU Cup of the season kicked off in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia with the sprint competitions. In the men’s 10km competition Haavard Gutuboe of Norway closed all the targets to finish first in 25:13.4. In women’s 7.5km competition clean-shooting Vanessa Voigt of Germany proved to be the best with a winning time of 20:31.2.

Men's competition

Germany’s Justus Strelow, also shooting clean, came in second, 27.3 seconds behind. Erlend Bjoentegaard of Norway, despite two penalties, claimed third place, 43.3 seconds back.

Norway’s Aleksander Fjeld Andersen and Endre Stroemsheim finished fourth and fifth, both with one penalty, finishing 48.6 seconds and 50.4 seconds behind respectively. After taking the lead after prone, Philipp Nawrath of Germany missed two in standing to finish sixth, 50.5 seconds back.

First win in seven years

After a seven-year drought, with the second ski time of the day and clean shooting, Bogetveit managed to play the cards to his favour taking the sprint win. Second after the prone stage, just 4.6 seconds behind clean-shooting Nawrath, the Norwegian had his eyes on a great result. Closing the gap on the German by the second shooting bout, he showed again a steady hand closing all the targets. While Nawrath picked up two penalty loops, Bogetveit left the range as the leader, 9.2 seconds ahead Strelow. Widening the gap from the German to 16.3 seconds on the last loop, the Norwegian arrived at the finish line with the well-earned win.

Clean shooting Strelow claimed the second place

Fourth after cleaning prone, 10.7 second behind Nawrath and 6.1 seconds behind Bogetveit, Strelow reclaimed two positions by the end of the standing stage. Although closing all the targets, he was no rival to the fast-skiing Norwegian. 27.3 seconds behind, Strelow claimed second place.

Second podium for Norway

Erlend Bjoentegaard picked up another podium for Norway in the third place. Sixth after cleaning prone, the Norwegian found a second gear. Showing the best course time on the second loop, Bjoentegaard entered standing in third, 8.6 seconds after teammate Bogetveit. Having earned yet another penalty, he left the range in fifth, 44 seconds back. Taking back two places on the final loop, Bjoentegaard secured a second podium for Norway.

Women’s competition

Less than a second behind Voigt, clean-shooting Ekaterina Noskova of Russia claimed second place. Germany’s Anna Weidel in third place showed excellent clean shooting as well, 5.7 seconds behind.

Ragnhild Femsteinevik of Norway with one penalty finished fourth, 17.6 seconds back. Anastasiia Egorova of Russia closed all the targets to finish fifth, 30.5 seconds back. Teammate Anastasiia Goreeva with two penalties finished sixth, 37.9 seconds behind.

"I feel very good"

Entering the first shooting bout in ninth, Voigt moved up six spots with closing all the prone targets to leave third, 12.7 seconds behind teammate Anna Weidel and 6.6 seconds behind Noskova. Although Voigt managed to close all the targets again in standing, she found herself still in third position. With the gap between her and Weidel even wider, it seemed that Voigt had lost her chance to conquer on the highest step of the podium. With Weidel losing and Voigt gaining speed on the last loop, Voigt picked up thirteen seconds by the 6.3 km split time, but still this was not enough to pass her closest competitors. But seeing that there was still hope, Voigt pushed hard and showing the best ski time of the final loop, she overtook her competitors just before the finish for the victory.

The deciding final loop

Leader after both shootings, things seemed to be very clear for Weidel. Shooting clean, she was determined to fight for the highest place. 6.1 seconds ahead Noskova after prone, Weidel lost those seconds to the Russian by the second shooting. Entering standing as the leader, Noskova had to surrender to the fast-shooting Weidel who took back the leading position after the standing stage With only 2.9 seconds separating the two after the standing stage, Noskova had the chance to catch Weidel before the finish line. With Weidel’s decreasing ski speed, Noskova managed to pass Weidel to finish second leaving Weidel, settling with third place.

Photos: IBU/Igor Stancik