The corona virus is again an issue for biathletes shortly before the end of the season. Some top stars have become infected. The Bö brothers celebrated two double victories in the Czech Republic, despite a positive test. Dealing with the infection meanwhile causes trouble.
Shortly before the end of the biathlon season, the next top athlete caught Corona. Before the home World Cup in Östersund starting on Thursday, Sweden’s mass start world champion Sebastian Samuelsson tested positive for the corona virus. “I have very few symptoms and hope to still be able to compete in Östersund. But I have to get very healthy first,” said the 25-year-old on Instagram. He had mild cold symptoms, a subsequent test was then positive.
Samuelsson is now hoping to at least be there for the final mass start on Sunday. This also applies to Norway’s superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö, his brother Tarjei and their teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid. The trio had been infected last week at the World Cup in Nove Mesto, as had France’s overall World Cup winner Quentin Fillon Maillet and Ukraine’s Dmytro Pidrutschnji.
The Bö brothers celebrated two double victories in the Czech Republic, on Saturday in the pursuit despite a positive test. The fact that they then wanted to fly on the plane with the other athletes caused criticism after the races on Sunday. “That’s not right,” Benedikt Doll told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “They can infect others. If I had been sick, I would have driven the car.” Samuelsson, who was not yet positive at the time, also saw it this way: “If they have symptoms and are sick, then it’s not so cool that they get on this plane.” The Norwegians responded to the criticism and booked the Bös on another flight to Norway.
According to sports director Felix Bitterling, the German team wants to “continue the positive trend from the individual competitions in Nove Mesto” and “put themselves in the limelight” in the final individual competitions of the season and the mass start races. The penultimate World Cup starts on Thursday with the women’s singles (1.15 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport), followed by the men’s (4.20 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport).
