Bø claims victory in opening sprint event of biathlon World Cup season

Bø, the Olympic 20-kilometres champion, triumphed over 10km with a time of in 24:18.3 in Östersund, Sweden.

The 26-year-old received one penalty in the first of the two shooting sections in the sprint event, but crucially shot clean in the second.

The Norwegian's skiing speed saw him pull clear of his rivals to take victory and start his campaign in the best possible fashion.

After the win, he commented: "I do not think I have the margin on the tracks that I had last season. It has disappeared. It will be harder to get sprint wins this year.

"I did not think there was that big of a chance to win compared to last year, but I did and am proud of that."

Bø's older brother Tarjei also ended the competition with one shooting penalty, crossing the line as runner-up 19 seconds down, Russia's Matvey Eliseev shot clean for third and fourth went to Alexander Loginov, with one penalty, 27.1 seconds back.

Sportsbeat 2019