JT, “I can say sorry. It was a fight”
JT explained what happened when Emilien Jacquelin fell on the last uphill. “It was an incredible fight. You know, when you are in a race incident, we are close; he was attacking. I was behind. I had his back and when I went on the right of him, he cut in on the right. So, I can say sorry. It was a fight, but he tried to get in front of me and I was already on the side. He fell; too bad, but it is how it is.”
France’s Jacquelin, moving up form 14th at the start, despite the fall last, sprinted past Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid in the last 20 meters, taking second place, 3.5 seconds back. Laegreid finished third, 3.8 seconds back. Both Laegreid and Jacquelin had one penalty.
Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson, with three penalties, moved from sixth t the start to fourth, 47 seconds back. Norwegian teammates Martin Uldal and Vebjoern Soerum, finished fifth and sixth, each with three penalties, 47.6 and 50.1 seconds back. After a day of brilliant sunshine for the sprints, pursuit day was a typically dreary winter day: cloudy with a few breaks of sun and the temperature hovering at freezing with again light shooting range winds.
Photos: IBU/Yevenko, Nordic Focus/Christian Manzoni