LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland : Norway celebrated a clean sweep of the podium in the men’s 15km mass start at the International Biathlon Union World Championships on Sunday with Endre Stroemsheim securing gold with a tremendous burst on the final lap to cruise to victory.
Sturla Holm Laegreid took silver, beating out Johannes Thingnes Boe, who was taking part in the last world championship race of his glittering career, by three-tenths of a second in a thrilling battle to decide the podium places.
While Stroemsheim and Lagreid both rattled through their final series of five shots and left the range neck-and=neck, Stroemsheim accelerated away from his compatriot to win by 12.4 seconds.
“I had a very easy race. My shooting was good, and I was able to save a lot of energy. I knew I had a strong push for the final lap. I didn’t dare to wait when Johannes was closing in behind me, so I went a bit earlier than planned,” Stroemsheim said.
Stroemsheim’s breakaway on the final lap left Laegreid in a dogfight to keep the chasing Thingnes Boe at bay, but the 31-year-old five-time Olympic champion seemed to run out of energy on the final straight, allowing Laegreid to hold him off and take silver.
Thingnes Boe registered misses on each of his first three visits to the range, but he hit all five shots at the final standing shoot to put himself in with a chance before coming up just short of the silver medal.
“It was a messy race in many ways, but I shot clean when it mattered and came away with a medal, so it wasn’t too bad,” Thingnes Boe told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Earlier on Sunday, Sweden’s Elvira Oeberg delivered a sensational final shooting, hitting all five targets to snatch gold in a thrilling 12.5km mass start finale, finishing ahead of France’s Oceane Michelon and Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide.
