Sturla Holm Laegreid and Marketa Davidova notch season-opening biathlon wins in Oestersund
BySportsbeat
Updated 27/11/2021 at 19:47 GMT
Laegreid led home a Norwegian one-two in the men's race, while Davidova stormed to victory in the women's as the new biathlon World Cup campaign got underway in Oestersund. In the women's 15km race, Davidova took the lead on the first standing stage and never looked back as she romped to victory in a time of 42:43.5.
Biathlon World Cup Women 15 km individual: Davidova 1st
Image credit: Eurosport
Sturla Holm Laegreid and Marketa Davidova got their biathlon World Cup campaigns off to the perfect start as they surged to glory in Oestersund.
In the women's 15km race, Davidova took the lead on the first standing stage and never looked back as she romped to victory in a time of 42:43.5.
The Czech star showed the form that helped her claim World Championship gold in the event earlier this year, shooting clean and skiing strongly to finish 1:17.5 ahead of Lisa Theresa Hauser.
The Austrian accrued one shooting penalty, as did Germany's Denise Herrmann who took bronze after finishing around six seconds behind Hauser.
"I am really happy with this because it is not my favourite competition [the 15km]," said Davidova, who will wear the World Cup leader's yellow bib for the first time in her career in Sunday's sprint.
"And the shooting, I am not so good in it, but I am starting to be better, maybe. I am really happy that I shot like this (20-for-20)."
In the men's 20km event, Laegreid matched his exploits from last season when he surprisingly won the first World Cup race of the campaign in Kontiolahti.
If the Norwegian was an unknown package then, he's a highly-respected, world-class biathlete now after claiming four gold medals at February's World Championships and headed into this race in Sweden as favourite.
He delivered in style, taking the lead after the first standing stage, shooting clean and cruising to victory in 51:04.
That was 59.2 seconds ahead of compatriot Tarjei Boe, who racked up two penalties on the range, while France's Simon Desthieux had the same amount of misses but still claimed bronze - a mere 1.6 seconds behind Boe.
"It is like déjà vu," said Laegreid. "Last season I came out of nowhere and took a win I did not expect.
"Today I did not have the best shape; I know I can be better. Still, I managed to shoot clean and it was enough for the win. I hope to be copying last season because last season was very good."
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