The men’s super sprint, a short and fast competition, offered excitement from the early meters on. The Germans went 1-2 in the 7.5 km competition with Philipp Horn and Justus Strelow claiming first and second place respectively. Both men missed once, but Horn was faster to recover from the penalty, arriving at the finish line 9.5 seconds ahead of Strelow in 17.23.8. France’s Emilien Claude with three penalties, finished in third place, 13.5 seconds back. 

The men’s super sprint

The Germans earned a double win in the 7.5 km competition with Philipp Horn and Justus Strelow claimed the first and second place respectively. Both men missed once, but Horn was faster to recover from the mistake, arriving at the finish line 9.5 seconds ahead Strelow setting 17.23.8 as the winning time. France’s Emilien Claude missed three times and finished in third place, 13.5 seconds back. 

Germany’s Lucas Fratzscher came in fourth, one penalty and 30.8 seconds back. Marco Gross missed in a total of two times placing fifth, 25.7 seconds back. Norway’s Erlend Bjoentegaard earned altogether three penalties placing sixth, 31.7 seconds back. 

Four fast shooting rounds 

With a tempo high as ever, most of the men arrived at prone together; all had a chance to claim the lead. Germany’s Marco Gross was the fastest to close all five prone targets taking an early lead. Strelow, also clean, was only a .1 second behind and P. Horn placed third, .8 seconds behind. 

The three men left the range together and arrived at the second shooting round together. Side-by-side the teammates started closing the targets and it was time for Strelow to claim the lead. He closed the targets with confidence and left the range .9 seconds ahead of Gross, who closed all five targets as well. Horn, after completing a penalty loop, was third, 13. Seconds back. 

Strelow kept the lead to himself also after the first standing. Calmly closing all five standing targets, he places first, 2.4 seconds ahead of his teammate Horn. Emilien Claude, after missing once in prone, showed a steady hand in the standing round climbing to third. 

The French biathlete was faster than his German rivals, entering the last standing in the lead, but one miss took away the chance for the win. Horn managed to close all his targets in the final round and was first to start the final loop. Strelow missed once placing second, 13.3 seconds back. The trio finished the competition in exact that order delivering a double-win for the German team. 

Strelow takes the Super Sprint Globe

Today was the final Super Sprint of the season, the IBU Cup Super Sprint Score Globe found its owner as well, with Justus Strelow winning the Crystal Globe. 

Women’s Super Sprint

6.9 seconds behind Femsteinevik, Anna Weidel missed only once in the second place. France’s Lou Jeanmonnot showed a stable performance, with one penalty 11.9 seconds back, in third place. 

Norway’s Juni Arnekleiv and Jenny Enodd placed fourth and fifth with three and two penalties, 19.3 and 23,5 seconds back respectively. Marion Wiesensarter of Germany with two penalties placed sixth, 32.8 seconds back. 

First Standing Stage Changes Course of Action 

The early stage of the competition saw Camille Bened of France take the lead, shooting fast and precisely. Wiesensarter excelled in the shooting range as well in second, only a mere .4 seconds behind Bened. Jeanmonnot, clean as well, was third, 1.1 seconds back. Future winner Femsteinevik was not the fastest starter in eighth after the first prone, 10.2 seconds back. 

Apart from Femsteinevik climbing to fourth place, the second prone did not change much in the top. Bened and Wiesensarter were still first and second leaving the range together, Jeanmonnot was holding on to the third place with a .1 second advantage over Femsteinevik. 

As the Lenzerheide biathlon venue got hit by unexpected bursts of wind, the luck favoured those who started their shooting later resulting in a big change in the top. Bened missed four times in the first standing. It was clear that her competition for the highest places was done. Wiesensarter missed once and found herself in the third place after completing the penalty loop. Femsteinevik and Weidel, however, showed a steady hand for the third consecutive time moving to first and second respectively with only 1.9 seconds separating the two. Jeanmonnot missed once dropping to fourth. 

Weidel and Femsteinevik, were still together in the beginning of the last shooting round. It was clear the one who delivered a better shooting result will most likely be crowned as the winner. Things stayed interesting until the end as both of the athletes missed once, having to complete a penalty loop. Weidel was faster in the loop, leaving the range 5.2 seconds ahead of Femsteivik.

Now the question was, "Can Weidel keep Femsteinevik at a safe distance?" The Norwegian, known for her good ski speed, showed once again what she is capable of. Closing the gap on the track, Femsteinevik arrived first at the finish for the win. 

Jeanmonnot wins the IBU Cup Super Sprint Globe 

The women’s super sprint closed the hunt for the women’s IBU Cup Super Sprint Score Globe. with Lou Jeanmonnot, after finishing in third place today, winning the Globe. 

Photos: Deubert/IBU