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No shooting, still gold
Wednesday February 16 2011 06:09 PM
The boys’ Biathlon sprint race in Břízky was won by Norwegian, Johannes Bø, whilst the girls’ was won by Laura Dahlmeier of Germany. If they missed at the shooting range, the athletes did not receive an extra minute’s penalty but had to do a 150 m penalty lap.
Eighty seven boys from 28 European countries participated in the 7.5 km race. The first to start was the German representative, Matthias Dorfer, who had to run one penalty lap and finished fourth. “I made one mistake in shooting from the prone position but otherwise I am happy with my performance. The track was in perfect condition and the race went really well. I wanted to fight for a medal.”
Although Norwegian Johannes Bø made a total of four mistakes in shooting, he dominated the Cross Country ski tracks, and with a nearly two second lead he collected the gold medal, followed by the German, Roman Rees. “My shooting was truly tragic, I could not hit the targets and so I had to put all I had into the last ski lap. I lost any hope for a medal, let alone for gold,” the winner confided.
The bronze was taken by German, Alexandr Ketzer. Similar to the opening race, Lukáš Jíra made the best Czech participant, finishing 15th on this occasion. “I am totally happy with my performance. I had minor technical problems in the first shooting and I am sorry about the last shot from the standing position. The cross country ski section was brilliant though.”
One and a half kilometres shorter; the girls’ race opened with 78 athletes from 26 European countries. Just as in Monday’s individual race, the sprint was won by German, Laura Dahlmeier. “Everything turned out the best for me in this race, my shooting was excellent and so was my skiing. This victory really means a lot to me. I have proven that my initial victory was no accident.”
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