The current leader of the World Cup offered, Sunday, its fourth medal since the beginning of the games. Before it, only his compatriot Ole Einar Björndalen had succeeded such a feat.
by
At 31 years old, Marte Olsbu Roeeland has already joined the legend. By winning, Sunday, February 13, in the lawsuit, the Norwegian biathlete has been awarded a fourth medal since the beginning of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. In its sport, only one athlete had succeeded such a prowess: his compatriot Ole Einar Björndalen, the man to the 13 Olympic titles and the ultimate reference of the Biathlon.
In 2002 in Salt Lake City (United States), the “King Ole” was adorned in individual, in the sprint tests, prosecution and relay. Certainly, Marte Olsbu Roeeland, she has only three crowns – mixed relay, sprint and pursuit – having to settle for bronze during the individual.
But it still has two chances of shining and going beyond the master: the Ladies Relais, Wednesday, February 16, and the Mass Start (Grouped Departure), 19. She can also dream at the Grand Slam, in the image of the one she had realized at the World 2020s of Anterselva (Italy) – seven possible medals, including five in gold.
Perfect race
Neither the wind reinforcing the feeling of cold, nor the flakes that fell without discontinuous on the Zhangjiakou site, 180 kilometers north of Beijing, did not come to disturb Norwegian, this Sunday. The Swedish Elvira Oeberg (2 e ) and the Norwegian Tiril Eckoff (3 e ), which complement the podium, have never been able to worry.
Imperial two days earlier during the sprint, with an without-fault on the firing pitch, Marte Olsbu Roeeland already had a comfortable advance on his rivals – the results of the Friday event conditioned the order and The time differences with which the participants took the start of the pursuit.
Especially since this direct confrontation race format, which consists of five tracks of 2 kilometers interspersed with four shooting sequences (lying, lying, standing, standing) – with a penalty tower for each missed target – He succeeded rather well since the beginning of the year. The current leader in the overall ranking of the World Cup has won four of the five proceedings on the world circuit since the season’s recovery.
This Sunday, Norwegian has done a perfect race. Party with thirty seconds ahead of its first prosecutor – Elvira Oeberg in this case – Marte Olsbu Roeeland realized a quasi-fault behind the rifle (19/20; only the first ball of his first shot standing escaped him). On arrival, she relegated Swedish to more than a minute and a half. “It was not so simple today. The snow was very slow, confided the Olympic champion at the end of the race. I tried to focus on me and not on my competitors.”
The French, turned to other deadlines
French side, at the beginning, only Anaïs Bescond seemed able to pick up a place on the podium, she who had concluded the Sprint from Friday to about thirty seconds from the bronze medalist, Italian Dorothea Wierer. But, from the first visit to the firing pitch, the Dean of Bleues, 34, has made two mistakes. Three others will follow before arrival and finally finished 27 e nearly four minutes from Norwegian.
Julia Simon, she, has experienced an opposite destiny. The biathlete of seizures, part 29 e , nearly two minutes behind Marte Olsbu Roeeland, managed to go back to 9 e place of the day at 2 minutes 18 of the victor .
“We are in Zhangjiakou, not in Lourdes. There is no miracle,” had summed up the coach of the blue, Frédéric Jean, after the sprint, little optimistic about the chances of his troops to shine on this Pursuit. In fact, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, which had finished 48 e Friday, decided to throw the sponge before the start of the race, preferring to preserve for other deadlines. Deadlines for which, certainly, it will still be necessary to count with the “Queen Marte”. Even if, for now, she wants “just enjoy this moment”.