Johannes Thingnes Bö, who else?! The dominator of the entire World Cup winter was allowed to make two mistakes and still couldn’t be stopped. But he didn’t win the small crystal ball.
The biathlon season at the legendary Holmenkollen came to an end with a victory by Johannes Thingnes Bö in the mass start race over 15 kilometers. The overall World Cup winner won ahead of Niklas Hartweg from Switzerland and his compatriot Vetle Sjastad Christiansen. Third place was enough for Christiansen to secure the small crystal globe in the mass start.
National coach Kirchner stops
After the race, the German national coach Mark Kirchner announced his resignation. He will remain with the DSV and will be involved in the youth field in the future. Jens Filbrich is a new addition to the coaching team, who will primarily take care of the running times. The last World Cup, in which Roman Rees and Co. clearly trailed the world leaders, showed that the DSV Skijäger have room for improvement on the cross-country ski run.
Squall simply irresistible
An exceptional running talent is Johannes Thingnes Bö, who started the last race of the season highly motivated and hit a hell of a pace. Only Swede Martin Ponsiluoma was able to follow him to the first standing stage, with a gap of ten seconds behind him. But because the leading duo had to do a lap of honor each time, the field was shaken up. Doll, with great late form, was the first to return to the cross-country ski run after a flawless rapid fire and from then on set the pace for a large group.
With two penalties on the second shooting in difficult visibility and with the wrong glasses, the Black Forest shot his way out of the podium and was visibly angry. The usual suspects showed up at the front. The Norwegian trio Johannes Thinges and Tarjei Bö as well as Christiansen were chasing at the front of the field together with the two Swiss riders Hartweg and Simon Stalder.
It wasn’t long before high-flyer Johannes Thingnes Bö – the only one in the leading group who had made a mistake by half-time – left his competitors behind and ran out an incredible 14 seconds before the third shooting. The overall World Cup winner hit the targets like clockwork and headed towards his 16th World Cup win of the season.
Biathlete Johannes Thignes Boe cheers
Christiansen was able to follow, Hartweg also shot clean and was on course for the podium. By the last shooting, squall had worked its way out more than 30 seconds. So another 150 extra meters didn’t bother me either. The victory was not to be taken over by the high-flyer. His clean-shooting rivals Hartweg and Christiansen fought for second place, which the fast Swiss rider secured.
Doll out of the concept – Rees best German
After a temporary lead, Doll finished 24th with a total of five penalties, but defended his fourth place in the overall World Cup rankings. He’s never been better. The best German in the last mass start was Roman Rees, who hit all 20 targets but had major problems on the cross-country ski run. In 13th place, he was 1:34.4 minutes slower than Hartweg, who also shot clean.
David Zobel (17th/1/+ 2:04.6 minutes) and Justus Strelow (28/0/+3:49.8 minutes) were also not up to speed. Philipp Nawrath had his sights set on a top ten finish for a long time, but shot himself out with two penalties at the final standing stage and only finished 20th.
Bold with circulatory problems
The last race of the season took place without Johannes Kühn. After the pursuer on Saturday, Kühn had circulatory problems. “Because the regeneration after the race didn’t go as hoped, he will no longer participate”explained team doctor Jan Wüstenfeld.
