When passion and skill, it looks like Johannes Thingnes Bö. Saturday afternoon in Lenzerheide, the Norwegian drives to the shooting range for the second time in the sprint and knows: If he now sunk all the windows, he is very close to a new entry in the history books of the biathlon. So play it safe? Not the kind of Bö.
As soon as he gets going, the windows fall: one, two, three, four, five, a murmur in the audience: 19.8 seconds, more time does not take Bön to secure his big triumph.
:The load of ten years thrown off the shoulders
Franziska Preuß fills the great expectations with silver in the sprint in the first single race of the biathlon World Cup. About one that had to lose a lot to win.
Two impeccable shooting deposits, best time on the cross-country ski run: at the World Cup sprint in Lenzerheide, Johannes Thingnes Bö secured his 21st World Cup gold medal, and that means: He has now won exactly one medal than Ole Einar Björndalen, his predecessor and compatriot . “This is very emotional for me,” said Bö, when he had strapped his skis and stood in front of the ZDF microphone: “It was an important goal to do it.”
Still One could add: Bö had surprisingly announced for everyone a few weeks ago that this World Cup would be his last, he ends at the end of the season. Just a year before the Winter Olympics. It was a shock for the biathlon scene.
For Norway, this World Cup has started surprisingly weakly – but on Bö is released
The 31-year-old last shed many tears at the World Cup in Ruhpolding at the cancellation announcement, because of course his passion for sport is still alive. But the victims he has to provide for this have become too great for him: if he has to disappear into the training camp for weeks, combined with a week -long separation from the family with his two children. To assert himself at the forefront this year has also fallen more difficult than in previous years: he has won the overall World Cup four times since 2019, after a phase of illness around the Christmas season and a weaker January had a competitor in Sturla Holm Laegreid last overtaken to your own team.
Not so at the sprint on Saturday. Then Laegreid made a mistake on the shooting range and was back behind Bös for almost 40 seconds. Silver surprisingly secured the American Campbell Wright in front of Quentin Fillon Maillet from France. The best German was Philipp Nawrath in 18th place.
To prepare for his last World Cup, Bö pulled back and trained alone. His program: “Long skiing units, good sleep, good food. I was my own boss, it was about finding the right balance, ”he said. A recipe that went on, Bö felt before this race: “I was really relaxed and ready to give everything.” For Norway, this World Cup started amazingly weakly: In the mixed season, the team narrowly missed bronze danding despite two penalty rounds Behind the German season, in the women’s sprint, no Norwegian made it onto the podium. But was relying on Bö.
It will be easier for the competition without a Bö
“Sprint is the hardest race that to win there is the most difficult,” said Johannes Thingnes Bö after the award ceremony in the press center next to the Roland Arena, surrounded by several recording devices. And then he also said that: “I enjoy it as if it were my last victory. Maybe my last. ”That was probably a bit understatement, after all, up to five starts are at the World Cup in Lenzerheide, depending on the relay. In any case, the record hunting is not yet ended for Bö, another gold medal in a single race is still missing to button Björndalen another record: Both are currently with eleven world championship titles. The next opportunity is already on Sunday in the persecution.
Björndals, who has now worked for Norwegian television, attended the success of Bö in Lenzerheide and was completely fine with being overhauled. “It’s actually not that bad. I expected that. He is a legend, he is fantastic under pressure, ”said the 51-year-old on ZDF. Both maintain a respectful relationship, since they know how important they are for the popularity of their sport. “He is still a role model for everyone who watches biathlon,” said Bö later about Björndalen. “I have always received support from the king personally.”
It will be easier for the competition to fight titles without a Bö, and yet these farewell days from Lenzerheide are also associated with melancholy. “If you run and win against the Bö-Brüder, you know what level you did on,” said Quentin Fillon Maillet. Biathlon will become a different sport without Johannes Thingnes Bö, so many feel that. But you don’t have to worry about Norway: In the end, there were six Norwegians among the top ten of the World Cup sprint on Saturday.