Norwegian biathlete Johannes Boe became pursuit world champion (12.5 kilometers) on Sunday February 12 in Oberhof (Germany), winning his third gold medal since the start of the Worlds after the mixed relay and the sprint.
The big favorite, the leader in the general classification of the World Cup was ahead of his compatriot Sturla Lægreid and the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson. The latter deprived Norway of a hat-trick as in the sprint. Johannes Boe’s older brother, Tarjei, was unable to keep his second place from the day before and finished at the foot of the podium.
With this success, Johannes Boe offers himself, at the age of 29, the sixth individual world title of his career and brings his total to fifteen medals in world championships. The five-time Olympic champion has achieved a flawless on all his shots, and continues to fly over these Worlds.
The French adrift
As since the start of the season, the French were in the tough Sunday. Quentin Fillon Maillet, double Olympic champion (individual and pursuit), only finished 12th. The Jurassien, only 9th in the sprint on Saturday and started 1 minute and 9 seconds behind Johannes Boe, notably made three errors on the first lying shot, synonymous with three penalty laps. In the second, he still missed the target twice, just like in the second standing shot.
Antonin Guigonnat finished just behind, 14th at 3 minutes and 21 seconds (15/20 shooting), while Fabien Claude ranked 21st (14/20 shooting) and Eric Perrot 32nd.
Double title holder, their compatriot Emilien Jacquelin, 36th in the sprint more than two and a half minutes from Boe the day before, had decided not to start in agreement with his management.
Competition continues on Tuesday with the men’s individual.
