Saturday at the IBU World Championships Biathlon 2021 Pokljuka is dedicated to relay races. The women’s race will start at 11:45 a.m. and the men’s at 3 p.m. It is hard to predict a favourite for the final win, looking at the results of the season.
In the 2020/21 season, the biathletes competed in four races and in women’s category each of the victory went to the other country. Swedes, Germans, and Norwegians finished at the top in the first three races, while at the “dress rehearsal” in Anterselva, Russians claimed the win. In January, Belarusians proved that surprises are possible when they finished second in Oberhof. And it is these teams that are the main favourites for the title.
Norwegians defend the title from Anterselva 2020, the silver went to the Germans and the bronze to the Ukrainians. And the balance of power has not changed significantly comparing to the previous season. The Germans and Russians are strong, especially as a team. On the other hand, the Norwegians with Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, the Swedes with Hanna Oeberg and the French with Anais Chevalier-Bouchet have more outstanding stars in their ranks.
The young Slovenian team will primarily fight to improve the impression from their performances at the home World Championships. A result up to 12th place would already be a great success, among 22 registered teams.
In the men’s race, the favourites are the Norwegians and the French. In the last races, the French, who are defending last year’s victory, were the better team twice. The Norwegians won the first race, and in the second the Swedes proved that they should be taken seriously. The Germans, Italians and Russians also finished on the podium.
As so many times before, the pursuers will be waiting for the mistakes of the French and Norwegians on the shooting range, as they have made quite a few so far at Pokljuka.
Slovenia is still waiting for a really top result at the home World Championships. But in the individual race, Jakov Fak, Miha Dovžan, Rok Tršan and Alex Cisar proved that they are very accurate on the shooting range and fast in skiing. With a good outcome, they may be able to repeat last year’s achievement, when they unexpectedly claimed fifth place in Anterselva.
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Women, 4×6 km Relay |
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Date |
Place |
Winner |
Second |
Third |
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5 December 2020 |
Kontiolahti |
Sweden Johanna Skottheim Mona Brorsson Elvira Öberg Hanna Öberg |
France Anaïs Bescond Anaïs Chevalier Chloé Chevalier Justine Braisaz |
Germany Vanessa Hinz Franziska Preuss Maren Hammerschmidt Denise Herrmann |
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12 December 2021 |
Hochfilzen |
Norway Karoline Offigstad Knotten Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold Tiril Eckhoff Marte Olsbu Roeiseland |
France Anaïs Bescond Julia Simon Justine Braisaz Anaïs Chevalier |
Sweden Johanna Skottheim Linn Persson Hanna Öberg Elvira Öberg |
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16 January 2021 |
Oberhof |
Germany Vanessa Hinz Janina Hettich Denise Herrmann Franziska Preuss |
Belarus Iryna Kryuko Dzinara Alimbekava Hanna Sola Elena Kruchinkina |
Sweden Mona Brorsson Linn Persson Elvira Öberg Hanna Öberg |
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24 January 2021 |
Antholz-Anterselva |
Russia Evgeniya Pavlova Tatiana Akimova Svetlana Mironova Uliana Kaisheva |
Germany Vanessa Hinz Janina Hettich Denise Herrmann Franziska Preuß |
France Anaïs Bescond Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet Justine Braisaz-Bouchet Julia Simon |
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World Championships 2020 |
Antholz-Anterselva |
Norway Synnoeve Solemdal Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold Tiril Eckhoff Marte Olsbu Roeiseland |
Germany Karolin Horchler Vanessa Hinz Franziska Preuss Denise Herrmann |
Ukraine Anastasiya Merkushyna Yuliia Dzhima Vita Semerenko Olena Pidhrushna |
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Men, 4×7.5 km Relay |
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Date |
Place |
Winner |
Second |
Third |
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6 December 2020 |
Kontiolahti |
Norway Sturla Holm Laegreid Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen Tarjei Boe Johannes Thingnes Boe |
Sweden Peppe Femling Jesper Nelin Martin Ponsiluoma Sebastian Samuelsson |
Germany Erik Lesser Roman Rees Arnd Peiffer Benedikt Doll |
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13 December 2021 |
Hochfilzen |
Sweden Peppe Femling Jesper Nelin Martin Ponsiluoma Sebastian Samuelsson |
Norway Sturla Holm Laegreid Johannes Dale Tarjei Boe Johannes Thingnes Boe |
Germany Erik Lesser Roman Rees Benedikt Doll Philipp Horn |
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15 January 2021 |
Oberhof |
France Simon Desthieux Quentin Fillon Maillet Fabien Claude Émilien Jacquelin |
Norway Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen Johannes Dale Tarjei Boe Johannes Thingnes Boe |
Italy Thomas Bormolini Lukas Hofer Tommaso Giacomel Dominik Windisch |
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23 January 2021 |
Antholz-Anterselva |
France Antonin Guigonnat Quentin Fillon Maillet Simon Desthieux Émilien Jacquelin |
Norway Sturla Holm Laegreid Johannes Dale Tarjei Boe Johannes Thingnes Boe |
Russia Anton Babikov Matvey Eliseev Alexander Loginov Eduard Latypov |
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World Championships 2020 |
Antholz-Anterselva |
France Émilien Jacquelin Martin Fourcade Simon Desthieux Quentin Fillon Maillet |
Norway Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen Johannes Dale Tarjei Boe Johannes Thingnes Boe |
Germany Erik Lesser Philipp Horn Arnd Peiffer Benedikt Doll |
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