BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships 2016 - Double Mixed Relay (4x6km + 4x7,5km)
03.03.2016, Oslo
Martin and France Take Mixed Relay Gold
Last Loop with Schempp
The French team of Anais Bescond, Marie Dorin Habert, Quentin Fillon Maillet and Martin Fourcade won the mixed relay Gold medal with eight spares in 1:14:01. Germany won the Silver medal, with seven spares, 4.3 seconds back, while the home team of Norway won the Bronze medal, with 10 spares, 14.4 seconds back.
Fourth went to Ukraine, with 9 spares, 29.8 seconds back while Austria with just three spares, 1:07.1 back and defending champion Czech Republic in sixth, 1;23.3 back.
Snow and Fog, then Clear
An overnight storm dumped about 25 cm of snow at the Holmenkollen. Once that stopped, the fog rolled in for much of the day. However, by the time 25 teams headed out of the stadium, the fog was gone, leaving just cloudy skies for this first competition at the 2016 IBU World Championships.
Norway
Fitting of a home WCH, Norway started off with a big bang from Marte Olsbu, who used just a single spare and led until the final loop above the shooting range when Susan Dunklee of the USA powered past her. Ukraine tagged in third and Germany in fourth, 16 seconds back. The second leg saw Tiril Eckhoff using four spares, falling back and then finally tagging in first position. Soukalova bought the Czech team from 16th at the first exchange to fifth as Michal Slesingr took the tag. Soukalova shot clean and skied her way back into contention. At one point, it seemed that France's Marie Dorin Habert would win the second leg, but a fall knocked her back; she had to expend a lot of energy to get back in contention. She tagged in third, just behind Germany's Franziska Hildebrand. As the men took over, Norway, Germany, France and Ukraine were separated by a mere .4 seconds.
Ukraine in Charge
Johannes used a spare round in prone and slipped out of first as Ukraine's Sergey Semenov and Germany Arnd Peiffer moved to the top of the pack. Johannes moved even with the other two as they came to the standing stage. Peiffer cleaned in five as did Semenov; Johannes needed a spare. The top four remained the same, heading to the final exchange. At the final exchange, it was Ukraine, France, Germany and Norway, all within one second.
Martin Pulls Away
The anchor leg would be a barn-burner, with Simon Schempp, Martin Fourcade, Dmytro Pidruchnyi and Tarjei all battling for medals. The Ukrainian cleaned and led out of prone, followed by Fourcade and Schempp. Tarjei used three spares and fell 18 seconds back. Going to standing, Fourcade took over, followed by Schempp, with Ukraine falling back. Fourcade and Schempp used a spare round but Tarjei rapid-fired and hit all five shots, but was still 8 seconds back. It was the same battle seen all year, Fourcade and Schempp, with Fourcade holding a 1-meter lead over the last loop. In the stadium, Fourcade pulled away for the win, with Schempp slipping back and Tarjei coming to the finish in third.
Smiles for French Team
The smiles never left the faces of the French tem after the competition. Bescond beamed as she said, "It is amazing to start the Championships with a Gold medal."
Fourcade commented, "We knew we were one of the favorites today, but you never know...This was a very emotional win for us today; our first team win since 2009."
Dorin Habert admitted that her fall was "just a mistake, nothing else."
Stressed Preuss
Franziska Preuss who led off for Germany said, "I was very nervous and stressed today. In prone, I tried to shoot fast and used spares; after that I focused on myself and it was okay.
Worked Hard
Schempp admitted that he wanted to go after Fourcade, but "Martin shot faster in standing and then I had to work hard to close the gap. That took away my power I needed to try for the Gold."
Tarjei "Not Racing Anymore"
Tarjei said he was, "90% happy with the Bronze medal, and will get the other 10% next week!" Then asked if he would admit that Fourcade seemed unbeatable here, Tarjei laughed and said, "He is so unbeatable that I will not race any more at these Championships!" Fourcade replied, with a big smile, "Good!"
3 мар 2016
