The men’s 10-kilometer sprint in Oberhof, Germany was a bit more in synch with recent weather trends in some parts of stormy Europe: clouds descended, the wind picked up, and steady snow began to fall during the race. This was in contrast to weather conditions during Thursday’s women’s sprint when uncharacteristically Oberhof found itself basked in intermittent sunshine and relatively calm winds.
By the time athletes began their standing shooting stage on Friday, the unpredictable winds mixed with snow made for tricky and more complex shooting conditions. Some biathletes fared well, others were flummoxed.
Alexander Loginov of Russia shot clean and won the race in 25:50.9 minutes. It was his fifth podium of the season, but his first career IBU World Cup individual win. Loginov placed third twice in Pokljuka, Slovenia and second twice in Nové Město, Czech Republic for his other podiums.
The overall IBU World Cup leader, Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, placed second on Friday 25.2 seconds back after accruing a single penalty while standing. Bø has won six races this season on the World Cup — which include wins in all three sprints contested this year.
Sweden’s Sebastian (Sebbe) Samuelsson earned his first career World Cup individual podium when he placed third (+36.8) after shooting clean. Samuelsson is both a gold and silver medalist from the 2018 PyeongChang Games. He is twenty one years old.
The best placed North American was US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty in 22nd (+1:58.4, 1+1). Today’s 22nd place was the third top-30 result for Doherty this season.
Leif Nordgren was the next best placed American in 63rd (+3:09.1, 2+1). Travis Cooper finished in 94th (+4:42.1, 2+2).
Christian Gow was the top Canadian in 33rd (+2:18.6, 2+0). Teammates Brendan Green placed 80th (+3:46.9, 0+2), and Jules Burnotte 102nd (+5:19.0, 2+2). Scott Gow did not start.
