After finishing 30th in the Individual race two days ago, 35-year old Finn delivered much better performance in the 7.5K Sprint, shot clean and crossed the finish line as the first one. The closest challenger was Italy’s Dorothea Wierer (+14.8), while the third place went to France’s Justine Braisaz (+42.1). Her compatriot Julia Simon finished fourth, another Italian Lisa Vittozzi fifth, and Slovakia’s Paulina Fialkova sixth.
Kaisa started the race strong. Her powerful skiing, together with clean shooting brought her to the first victory this season, and 24th in her career. She was happy after the race: “It was fun to compete today. I wasn’t thinking about what kind of result I could get. I was focusing on what I was doing. I warmed up good today and afterwards went a loop by loop, trying not to think too much ahead. I really enjoyed it. I like Pokljuka!”
Wierer, who was incredibly fast and precise at the shooting range, claimed her sixth podium in this discipline, took the lead in the total score with this second place. “I am very satisfied with this result, especially with my shooting. On the track it was maybe a little bit difficult today, it was icy and strange for skiing, but otherwise I think it was a good performance,” concluded the adorable South Tyrolean.
Braisaz, who also swept all the targets clean, believes she still has some space for the improvements: “I think I’m not in my best shape yet. It was hard on the track, so I needed clean shooting for the podium and for my confidence too, because I was really angry about my performance in the Individual race two days ago.”
