Germany’s Michael Greis won the opening men’s Biathlon World Cup race of the season on Wednesday, a 20km race in Ostersund.
Greis missed just one target in the shooting range to claim victory in a time of 58 minutes, 52.5 seconds to register the 10th World Cup victory of his career.
Norway’s Alexander Os made two shooting mistakes on his way to a second-place finish, 50.5 seconds behind the winner, with compatriot and world champion Emil Helge Svendsen third, 55 seconds behind Greis.
PHOTO: AFP
“I’m very happy with my opening race. It gives me confidence and optimism for the next races,” said the triple Olympic champion Greis, who underwent laser surgery to improve his eyesight for this season.
The German missed only one of his 20 targets.
“Solid shooting was important, for a start,” Greis said. “One shot was a close miss, another hit just barely. The equalizer. My legs were still a little heavy — I’m lacking a bit of toughness for the competitions. I had good skis, though, which was really essential.”
Greis had to wait for confirmation of his victory, though, because Os, starting at No 79, crossed the finishing line more than half an hour later.
Os had been on his way to a first career victory, leading comfortably until he missed two targets at the final shooting session. Another Norwegian, world 20km champion Emil Hegle Svendsen, also had two errors and placed third, 55 seconds behind.
Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway, the greatest biathlete in history, missed five targets and wound up 24th.
The Biathlon World Cup season continued yesterday with the women’s 15km race. The meet ends on Sunday.
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