Kirkeeide and Frey win Pursuits in Osrblie

IBU Open European Championships

27 Jan 2024

Kirkeeide and Frey win Pursuits in Osrblie

Maren Kirkeeide and Isak Frey, both from Norway, are the winners of the Pursuit competitions at the IBU Open European Championships in Brezno-Osrblie.

After a bronze in the Sprint, Frey won his second individual medal in Osrblie. For Kirkeeide, it was a second Gold and third individual medal altogether.

Kirkeeide wins three-way Norwegian drama

The Sprint's winner, Ida Lien of Norway, opened the race with attacking skiing and 10/10 in the prone stages. After Lien's two misses in the first standing stage, Kirkeeide caught up with her as they left the stadium shoulder-to-shoulder, with Emily Aagheim Kalkenberg joining an exceedingly dramatic race. Kirkeeide and Kalkenberg had one miss in the last shooting and Lien two, one too many to stay in the fight for Gold. Kirkeeide clocked a faster final lap for a wim in 29:49.9. Kalkenberg was 11.1 seconds behind. Oceane Michelon of France was third, 27.1 seconds behind Kirkeeide and 1.4 seconds ahead of Lien.

The Winner's Words - Maren Kirkeeide

It was a dramatic race. I focused on my shooting and it paid off. It is fun to win. It is my lucky week with three medals.

Watch Highlights here

Marlene Fichtner of Germany, one of the two athletes with 20/20, finished fifth, 35.9 seconds behind Kirkeeide. Johanna Skottheim of Sweden, with 18/20, completed the Flower ceremony podium in the sixth place, 49.9 seconds behind the winner.

Frey uses his opportunities for a win

In warm and almost stormy conditions Frey found enough reasonable windows of opportunity for his shots and for a win in 32:42.1. Dmitrii Shamaev of Romania, the only athlete of the day with a clean sheet, sensationally won the Silver medal, 12.3 seconds behind Frey. Sprint's winner, Antonin Guigonnat of France, had a disastrous first standing shooting with four misses but cleared the last five targets for a Bronze medal, 26 seconds behind the winner.

The Winner's Words - Isak Frey

The conditions were insane. I got lucky on my first standing shooting as Soerum and Guigonnat - both ahead of me at that stage - each missed four shots. It is my first gold medal at the IBU Open European Championships, and it means a lot to me.

Watch Highlights here

Vebjoern Soerum (14/20; 50.8 seconds behind Frey), Mats Oeverby (16/20; 58,.5 seconds behind) and Martin Nevland (16/20; 1:04.1 back), all of Norway, took the places between four and six.

Frey and Guigonnat finished the individual part of the competitions with a Gold and Bronze medal, and Johan Olav Botn won two silver medals.