At the IBU World Championships Biathlon 2021 Pokljuka, Sunday will bring the men’s pursuit. The sprint results confirmed what we have seen so far this season. Swedish, French, and Norwegian biathletes will fight for the gold.
Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma has surprisingly won the Pokljuka sprint. In the World Cup, he has never been on the top of the podium, so he will leave Pokljuka really happy. In the hotel room, he already has the bronze medal from the mixed relay, and now also gold from the sprint.
He will also be dangerous in the pursuit, as he confirmed that Pokljuka trails suits him. Eleven seconds after him, French Simon Desthieux and Emilien Jacquelin will start. The race suits well the defender of the title Jacquelin, who admitted after the sprint that he did not expect the medal, and was counting on the pursuit.
However, it is expected that the first favourite of the season, Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø, will catch them until the first shooting. He will start another 10 seconds later, almost at the same time as his teammate Johannes Dale, who was just a tenth of a second slower than Bø.
French Quentin Fillon Maillet, the winner of Hochfilzen, Norwegian Sturla Holm Lægreid, the winner of the last two pursuits, Sweden Sebastian Samuelsson, the winner of the first pursuit of the season, and another Norwegian Tarjei Bø will also start less than a half second behind.
Russian Edvard Latipov finished tenth in the sprint, but can be a threat for the medal only in case of a clean shooting, because it is not expected that he will be able to compensate a penalty loop.
A little bit of statistics. In the season 2020/21, athletes from Norway, France and Sweden have taken all the podiums. Norwegians have two wins, one second, and four third places, French have a win and three second places, while Sweden has one win thanks to Samuelsson.
All four Slovenes Jakov Fak, Miha Dovžan, Rok Tršan and Klemen Bauer will be at the start. In the sprint, Dovžan was the best on 22nd place, while Fak finished 35th.
On Sunday at 14:30, the women’s pursuit will start, but the favourites will be revealed after today’s race.
|
12,5 km Pursuit |
|||||
|
Date |
Place |
Winner |
Second |
Third |
|
|
5 December 2020 |
Kontiolahti |
Sebastian Samuelsson |
Fabien Claude |
Johannes Thingnes Bø |
|
|
12 December 2020 |
Hochfilzen |
Quentin Fillon Maillet |
Émilien Jacquelin |
Johannes Dale |
|
|
19 December 2020 |
Hochfilzen |
Sturla Holm Lægreid |
Émilien Jacquelin |
Johannes Thingnes Bø |
|
|
9 January 2021 |
Oberhof |
Sturla Holm Lægreid |
Johannes Dale |
Tarjei Bø |
|
|
World Championships 2020 |
Antholz-Anterselva |
Émilien Jacquelin |
Johannes Thingnes Bø |
Alexander Loginov |
|