On Saturday, Baiba Bendika took the 41st place in the eighth stage of the Kontiolahti World Cup (PK) biathlon sprint, while Annija Keita Sabule, who took the 65th place, and Sandra Buliņa, who finished in the 83rd place, were at the highest point in their career in the PK stage.
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The victory was won by the German Denīze Hermane, who finished after 20 minutes and 8.6 seconds.
She was five seconds ahead of Norwegian Tiril Ekhof, 5.2 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Stin Nilson and 6.8 seconds ahead of Nilson’s compatriot Hann Eber.
The first five biathletes finished with one mistake in the shooting range.
Latvia’s leading biathlete Bendika started with the number 25, did not hit one goal in the shooting, stood – in two goals and ranked 41st, the winner losing a minute and 59.1 seconds.
She secured a race on Sunday.
Sabule started with the number 68, once making a mistake while shooting upright and took the 65th place, which is her highest place in the PK stages so far. So far, the best achievement was the 69th place in the Kontiolahti sprint last season.
She was two minutes and 55.1 seconds behind the winner, but 10.4 seconds behind the 60th place, which gives the right to start driving.
Bulin, who went to the track with number 83, did not cover two targets in the first shooting range, in the second he made two more mistakes, taking 83rd place and four minutes and 56.2 seconds behind Herman.
For her, too, it is the best finish in the PK stages. Previously, the best result was the 94th place sprint in Oberhof.
However, the competition is less competitive, because disqualified Russian and Belarusian athletes are not starting due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
84 biathletes started.
In the sprint test, the leader of the PK with 333 points is the Norwegian Marte Ulsbū-Reiselanne, the second with 282 points is the Swede Elvira Eberja, but behind her is her sister Hanna Ēberja with 266 points. Bendika is in 35th place with 62 points.
Reiselanne is also the first in the sum of all disciplines, accumulating 685 points. The second with 599 points is Elvira Eberja, but the third place with 589 points is taken by the Belarusian Dzinars Alimbekava. Bendika scored 105 points and is in 41st position.
For Bendika, this was the first sprint competition since the Beijing Olympics, in which Cēsis, as the only representative of Latvia in biathlon, took the 50th place. In the World Cup, she reached the highest place this season in Hohfilzen, where she won the ninth position in the sprint, which is the second best result in her career in this discipline.
Sabule has never reached the top 60 in the World Cup sprint, but this season’s debutant Buliņa had previously finished outside the top 90.
The ten-kilometer sprint for men will start at 4.30 pm, and the competition will be broadcast on LTV Channel 7.
On Sunday, the World Cup stage will end with a chase.
After this World Cup, there will be a stage on the Otepää track in Estonia, which will take place there for the first time. The season will traditionally end in Oslo.
