Sweden’s Hanna Öberg fast skiing brought her a mass start win in 34:14.4 despite one missed shot. Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi and France’s Anaïs Bescond dropped all the targets to finish second and third, 6.5 and 27.6 seconds back, respectively.
24-year-old Swedish started the race well, staying in the lead till the second prone when Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold got in front of her. In the next visit of the shooting range, Vittozzi shot impeccable and she was the first one to return on the track. Still, Hanna was incredibly fast, overtaking Lisa and crossing the finish line as the fastest. “I think I had a really good start. I felt confident at prone shootings. I think that when you get into the lead, you can ski more in control. Then, at the first standing I had a miss and lost some places, but not so many. Also, I think that this miss was a good reminder of what I have to do in the last shooting. Usually, if you want to be on the podium, you have to shoot clean. I had many good races, and today I managed to win,” Öberg explained after the victory.
Vittozzi was also very satisfied with her first podium this season: “After a long time I am back on the podium, so I am really, really satisfied with the race. I stayed focused, I believed in myself and that is the reason to be here.”
Bescond had a great week in Pokljuka, reaching her third podium in just as many competitions here. “I am really happy about the last three races. The beginning of the season was difficult, also the last winter was not perfect. At the beginning of this season, I was even thinking to take a break from biathlon. It is really nice to come to Pokljuka and get these great results. The key was that I had a clean shooting,” 32-year-old French shared her thoughts after the fixture.
Polish Monika Hojnisz-Starega ended the race in the fourth position, 37.5 seconds back, while Norweigan Marte Olsbu Røiseland in the fifth, 44.1 back. Lisa Theresa Hauser claimed the sixth place, 48.4 back.
