Fischer Tops Biathlon World Championships Again
It shone pure yellow on the podium against the night sky of Nove Mesto: With his victory in the final mass start, Johannes Thingnes Bø from Norway crowned himself the most successful World Cup athlete and at the same time made his supplier Fischer once again the most successful ski, boot and binding brand the Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto.
The thrilling competitions in front of an incredibly enthusiastic audience were advertising for the sport of biathlon. Even though the warm conditions on site were anything but easy, the organizer managed to create fair, albeit challenging, conditions with the active efforts of many volunteers. The Fischer Race family with their Speedmax skis and boots mastered this best. In the end, the Fischer athletes have an impressive record of 11 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze medals. By winning 53% of the medals, Fischer impressively confirmed its position as the Nordic number one and once again finished the World Championships as the most successful ski, boot and binding brand.
Above all, Johannes Thingnes Bø contributed significantly to the medal tally. The Norwegian achieved a hat trick with his victories in the pursuit, individual run and mass start. Thanks in part to his outstanding running performance, the three-time world champion won a medal in each of the seven races and equaled Ole Einar Björndalen's previous record with his 20th World Championship gold. The exceptional athlete was almost speechless afterwards: “Shooting on lane one in this stadium was one of the highlights of my career. I can hardly put into words the feeling of ending this great World Cup in such a beautiful way.” His brother Tarjei Bø, also with an outstanding running performance, won three silver medals in the relay and in the individual run as well as, together with his brother and Karoline Offigstad Knotten, contributed to Fischer's successful medal tally in the mixed relay.
In the women's race, the French Justine Braisaz-Bouchet stormed uncatchable on the cross-country ski trail and flawless at the shooting range, also in the final mass start to her first individual gold at the World Championships. After she had already won two gold medals in the mixed relay and relay, as well as silver in the sprint and bronze in the pursuit, the three-time world champion was overwhelmed: “When I hit the last target, my head was empty. I just felt a pure feeling of happiness, for myself and the entire team. It was perhaps my best race ever.”
To her delight, her teammate Lou Jeanmonnot joined her on the podium as the bronze medalist. The likeable Frenchwoman had previously won gold in the relay and bronze in the sprint, as well as the world championship title in the single mixed relay together with Quentin Fillon Maillet. Quentin Fillon Maillet also played a significant role in the successful performance of the strong French team and the Fischer Race family with gold in the mixed relay and bronze in the relay and mass start and took stock: “I'm only now realizing how much energy it cost has to start all races here. Now I’m very exhausted, but extremely happy and grateful.”
Even though many individual medals at the shooting range in the Swedish camp had vanished into thin air, Martin Ponsiluoma helped the Swedish men's relay team to win the world championship title with his strong running performance, after he had already won the bronze medal in the mixed relay team with Hanna Öberg, among others. Together with Anna Magnusson and Linn Persson, Hanna Öberg was also able to celebrate silver in the women's relay and took away very special impressions from Nove Mesto: “Especially the men's relay gold and our women's relay silver on the same day mean a lot to us much. It is such an overwhelming feeling to have won these medals for Sweden and to be part of this team.”
Andrejs Rastorgujevs from Latvia celebrated her sensational premiere on the World Cup podium in an individual race with silver in the mass start and Janina Hettich-Walz with silver in the individual run, who, together with Selina Grotian and Sophia Schneider, were also happy about the relay bronze for Germany.
