Tcherezov and Sleptsova

Tcherezov was one of only a handful of men who shot clean this afternoon, just as Sleptsova had been in the morning. The biggest difference between the two Russian victors was that Tcherezov’s margin of victory was only 11.1 seconds over Dominik Landertinger, compared to Sleptsova’s 34.4 second bulge over Anna Bogaliy-Titovets.

Luck on Shooting Range

Tcherezov was pleased with his clean shooting today, which was the key to his win. “Today was windy and snowy and it was quite hard for me and everyone. I am very glad that I shot zero-zero.” At the same time, he knew luck was on his side. “I had some luck on the shooting range as the wind stopped when I shot standing.”

Landertinger Missed 20K

Landertinger, in second place, with one prone penalty, was the early leader, but Tcherezov’s perfect shooting put him just ahead of the young Austrian. Yet, the young Austrian was happy to start and pleased with his performance. He said, “I was a bit sick on Thursday with some congestion in my head and sat out the 20K. Today, I had super skis good shooting and super running.” He added that he needed to be just as good in tomorrow’s 12.5K Pursuit to be on the podium again.

However, he was not surprised to be on the podium today, as the whole Austrian team is doing well now.  “Our whole team is in good form, Sumann, Mesotitsch, Pinter; that is good for biathlon in Austria.”

When quizzed about the upcoming Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, he stated, “My goals for Vancouver are an individual medal in Sprint, Pursuit or Mass Start and a relay medal for our team.”

Frei Happy

Third place went to surprising Thomas Frei of Switzerland, whose previous best finish was 15^th in the Hochfilzen Pursuit last season. Starting near the end of the field, Frei missed just one prone shot, while finishing 42.1 seconds behind Tcherezov. Frei was surely the happiest man on the podium, commenting, “I had a bit of luck with shooting and with my skis and it left me happy in the end.”

21-year-old Tarjei Boe

Norway’s 21-year-old Tarjei Boe, also with a single penalty, started even farther back than Frei and scored a personal best fourth place, 42.7 seconds back. Boe is a first year senior, who impressed Norwegian Coach Mikael Lofgren in preparations for this season. In an earlier interview, he commented on Boe, who obviously met his expectations today. “Tarjei Boe is a first year senior who stepped up this year. He has trained well and been a good team member. It will be fun to see what he can do this year.”

Boe’s surprising finish pushed Russia’s Anton Shipulin, with one penalty, to fifth place, 49.1 seconds back. Simon Fourcade of France, Evgeny Ustyugov of Russia, and Tim Burke of the USA followed, 50.8 seconds, 57.6 seconds, and 1:00.7 back. Fourcade and Ustyugov had single penalties, while Burke missed one shot in each stage.

Most Visited

The most visited tourist site in Slovenia this snowy afternoon may have been the penalty loop in Pokljuka. The weather did not let up for the Men’s Sprint. In fact, at times, the wind was even more intimidating. The few men, who escaped the penalty loop during the prone stage, probably went there after shooting standing. That was when the wind did the most damage, as huge extended gusts would push the bullet from its mark. The number of athletes with three or more standing penalties was remarkably high for the World Cup level. Probably the best example of shooting range frustration was yellow-bib wearing Christoph Sumann of Austria. Sumann, usually a 90% plus shot, missed four shots in prone and four more in standing. He finished 103^rd, 4:26.5 back. It was that kind of a day on the shooting range.