First World Cup victory for Endre Stroemsheim
Endre Stroemsheim has won a World Cup race for the first time in the pursuit at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 2024 in Oberhof. The sprint bronze medallist won ahead of his two compatriots Sturla Holm Laegreid (2/ +17.8 seconds) and Johannes Dale-Skjevdal (1/ +36.4). Tarjei Boe (3/ +45.5) and his brother Johannes Thingnes Boe (4/ +50.3) completed the Norwegian victory.
The best German was Johannes Kühn, who had to go into the penalty loop twice and finished one minute behind the winner Stroemsheim. "It was good overall today. The course suits me, but I was a little too far back to get to the top. The others were simply better," said Kühn, who started the race 30 seconds behind in fifth place after his strong performance in the sprint.
In the ARENA am Rennsteig 20,500 spectators experienced pure excitement. Winner Stroemsheim came to the final shooting stage in the lead, but made two mistakes. His pursuer Thingnes Boe risked everything in a fast shooting stage, but missed three times. It was the chance for Laegreid, who came to the shooting stage in third place. The sprint runner-up made no mistakes and returned to the track exactly six seconds behind Stroemsheim. "I thought Endre was already a bit tired, so I ran up and passed him, but he still had a bit more power," summed up Laegreid, who was nevertheless very satisfied after his second podium finish in the Thuringian Forest.
Afterwards, Stroemsheim revealed that it was definitely intentional to let his team rival catch up and rest a little in the slipstream. "That was my tactic today. I wanted to attack on the last corner," said the 26-year-old. "It's an incredible feeling. After the last shooting, I knew that today was the day. I really enjoyed the last few meters alone with this great crowd."
(Photos: Christian Heilwagen)