Marte Krakstad Johansen and Martin Uldal, both of Norway, won the pursuits at the IBU Cup in Idre Fjall, Sweden.

Johansen won for a second time in two days, for Uldal it was the first win in his first-ever week in the IBU Cup. Norway took first four places in men’s pursuit.

Johansen kept her nerves for a second win

Johansen, missing one shot in the second prone stage, doubled down on her win in the sprint. She was 19 seconds faster than Gilonne Guigonnat of France, who also missed just in the second prone for a second place and a career-second IBU Cup podium, and 21.9 seconds faster than Marion Wiesensarter of Germany, who shot 18/20 and collected the second podium in two days.

“It was a very stable shooting and skiing performance. The race got a bit tight in the third lap when we were five girls within two seconds at one stage. But in the end, shooting decided the outcome,” said Johansen, who missed just one shot in the first two days in Idrefjall.

Sweden's Tilda Johansson, 22nd after the sprint, clocked the second fastest time of the day and missed two shots for fourth place, 29.5 seconds behind the winner. Janina Hettich-Walz of Germany missed one shot in each of the last three stages and finished fifth, 35.5 seconds behind Johansen. Kristina Oberthaler of Austria, shooting 19/20, finished sixth, 48 seconds behind the Norwegian.

Uldal wins the Norwegian contest

Uldal, fifth after the sprint, missed in the first, third, and last shooting stage, but kept his skis intact on a demanding course in Idre Fjall for his first-ever win in his only second appearance in the IBU Cup. He went head-to-head with the sprint winner Endre Stroemsheim in the third and fourth lap but prevailed in the last shooting when his teammate missed two times. Stroemsheim finished 32.5 back. Mats Oeverby shot 18/20 but was no match on skis for his faster teammates; he finished third, 53.4 seconds behind Uldal.

“It was a fun race with Endre. He was pulling us both up the hill, and I matched him in the downhill. Luckily for me, he missed two shots in the last standing stage. That gave me enough room for a comfortable final lap,” said Uldal

Martin Nevland, sprint and pursuit winner from last winter’s IBU YJ World Championships in Soldier Hollow, shooting 20/20, fought back from the 24th place in the sprint to finish fourth, 59 seconds behind the winner. Lucas Pitzer of Austria had a spotless shooting day for fifth place, 1:03.6 behind Uldal. Philipp Horn of Germany was sixth, 1:06 behind the Norwegian winner.

Photo: Per Danielsson; IBU Photopool