Olsbu Roeiseland Doubles Up with Oberhof Pursuit Win
Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland made it an Oberhof sprint/pursuit double this afternoon, going wire-to-wire, winning the women’s 10 km pursuit in 33:18.8. Second place Hanna Oeberg of Sweden matched her Norwegian rival on the range with two penalties, but finished 33.4 seconds back. Dzinara Alimbekava of Belarus, also with two penalties finished third, 42.7 seconds back.
Oberhof BMW IBU World Cup Women's Pursuit 22
“Almost perfect for Oberhof”
Today’s victory gave Olsbu Roeiseland five podium-topping results this season, with three in pursuits. “It was a great race today. I just tried to focus on the targets and what I could do on the track. I was expecting that Hanna Sola would catch me in the first loop. In the start, I did not see her, so I do not know what happened. I am really satisfied with my race and I think it was almost perfect for Oberhof.”
Full of energy
She admitted to being full of energy despite clearing the track for the field on the first loop. “I am (full of energy). I think I am better. The sprint was good but I think today was a better race for me. I hope it will continue; we will see.”
Windy Shooting
Later, she added about shooting in the wind, “It is difficult in the wind. Sometimes, you could be lucky and hit all the targets and suddenly it is a lot of wind and you miss so many. I saw the men’s pursuit; you saw what happened there. But I tried to focus on myself and do the job.”
Julia Simon of France finished fourth, with three penalties, 51.2 seconds back, 8.5 seconds ahead of her fifth-place teammate Anais Chevalier-Bouchet, with one penalty. Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser, also with one penalty finished sixth, 1:21.9 back
More snow and wind
The snow and gusty winds continued for the women setting up another slow battle on the tracks and tough range conditions. The sprint winner set the pace with Simon not far behind in the first loop. The Norwegian cleaned the first prone easily and was gone quickly. Hanna and Mari Eder cleaned next but left over 36 seconds back with Kristina Reztsova and Stina Nilsson, also clean next.
The leader shot four times perfectly in the second prone before missing the final shot. Reztsova cleaned to take control of second as Hanna had a penalty, falling to third, 46 seconds back. Alimbekava and the 10-for-10 Anais Bescond followed, just steps behind Hanna.
Hanna and Alimbekava move up
Olsbu Roeiseland was in total control as they came to the first standing stage. She missed the first shot, again cracking the door slightly for her pursuers. Reztsova missed three shots while Hanna and Alimbekava cleaned, going out 28 and 32 seconds back, respectively. Simon climbed back to fourth with a clean stage after two earlier prone penalties.
Five perfect shots
Hanna and Alimbekava took a few seconds out of the Norwegian’s lead over the next 2.5 km, but Roeiseland remained with a substantial lead. Five perfect shots and she had the victory in hand. Hanna and Alimbekava all picked up a penalty while Chevalier-Bouchet cleaned. The Swedish, Belarusian, and French stars went out in that order for the last loop at 51.6, 58 and 1:01 back, respectively.
Smile, wave, a jump and victory
Olsbu Roeiseland smiled and waved at the empty tribunes as she came to the finish line before jumping across the line, picking up an Oberhof sprint/pursuit double. Hanna pushed hard just out of the stadium, pulling away from the Belarusian, taking second place.
Hanna: “Not an option to shoot bad again”
Hanna zeroed in on her shooting today after being disappointed in the sprint and mixed relay. “I am very happy about my race but mainly happy that I managed to shoot 90%. I have been struggling a bit with my shooting this week…Yesterday the prone shooting was really bad so to come back today and shoot clean in the first (prone) and to continue with good shooting throughout the competition means a lot to me…Coming from a bad competition, I am always more motivated to make it good the day after. Today I was really tired of shooting bad so it was like it was not an option to shoot bad again.”
Podium breakthrough for Alimbekava
After finishing fourth five times this season, Alimbekava finally made it to the podium in an individual competition and was quite pleased to break that string of near-misses. “I was often near the podium and now I did it. I am very happy with my race and my Bronze medal…Yesterday I was very tired after the race. Today my plan was clean shooting because my feeling was not good and now I am happy.” Photos: IBU/Christian Manzoni
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