Men's Sprint (10 km)
Lord, how hard it is to fight the standard! According to the logic of things, one needs to strive for it, but it is in no way trying to surpass, puffing with all his might ... It's no secret that Bjoerndalen, who does not experience the blues and does not arrange a shooting horror, is absolutely invincible. Of course, the Norwegian is not sinful, he, like other people, has dark days. You can recall last year's Olympics, where he crawled like a turtle. But these are exceptions. When Bjoerndalen is ready, as now, to fight him is an empty exercise. In principle, one can put an end and not write further ... Anyway, nothing new can be added to the image of Bjoerndalen, now the seven-time world champion.
But we will try. In order to figure out what his opponents did not have this time. After the second firing, Bjoerndalen had a solid supply, but his result did not seem unattainable. Blame the blame for the last shot from a standing position. The chance to overthrow the Norwegian from the throne was presented to young people - Czech Michal Schlesingru and Russian Maxim Chudov. Other favorites frankly could not cope with the gusts of wind and alternately wrapped the penalty circles. Impeccable snipers Halvard Hanevold, Michael Grice, Christoph Zumann, Ivan Cherezov, Dmitry Yaroshenko smeared two or three times. When was this ?!
The chance of youth was at risk. Schlesinger coped with the nerves, shot quickly and to zero, but Miracles frankly burned out. Unfortunately, a miniature biathlete from Bashkortostan during the second shooting, a strong wind blew. He reasonably decided to wait it out, the seconds were melting away, and hopes for a medal were disappearing with them, and then ... two fatal misses followed. For a sprint, this is a disaster. The birthday man Schlesinger, celebrating his 24th birthday today, rushed in pursuit of the Norwegian, closing the gap as best he could, but he never got closer by more than five seconds. However, for him, and second place - a crazy success, because this is the first podium in the career of the Czech. The bronze was unexpectedly won by the Ukrainian Andriy Derizemlya. This season, he frankly did not shine and was never even in the top ten.
Women's Sprint (7.5 km)
On February 9, Magdalene Neuner will turn 20 years old. Despite her tender age, the German woman has already managed to declare herself loudly: at the stage of the World Cup in Oberhof, she won the sprint and took third place in the pursuit. After which a predictable recession ensued, problems with shooting escalated. At the stage in Pokljuka, Magdalena managed to miss everything five times at the “stand”! In the first race of the World Cup, her shooting was also far from ideal, but two misses did not prevent the young hope of the German national team ahead of the Olympic champion Anna-Karin Olofsson. At the finish, a desperate struggle unfolded between them. At the final kilometers, the experienced Swede won a little over two seconds, but still managed to lose her microscopic advantage. Thus, Magdalena Neuner for the first time became the world champion and at the same time the richest biathlete in her country. Her annual income is estimated by specialists at 100 thousand euros.
24-year-old Natalya Guseva shed a balm to the Russian fans, disappointed by the faded performance of men. This season, the St. Petersburg athlete did not get anything at all. Coaches of the team even freed her from the stage in Slovenia. For almost a month, Natalia was preparing for the World Cup in the midlands and, apparently, managed to adapt better than others to difficult conditions. If it were not for a miss in shooting while standing, Gusev would surely have fought with Neuner and Olofsson for the gold medal. And so - bronze, which, if judged objectively, the result is outstanding. Bravo, Natalia!
Tomorrow is the pursuit. In Antholz-Anterselva everything is just beginning ...