Italian biathlete Dorothea Wierer is the winner of the group start race for the World Cup in Östersund. With 13th place, Polona Klemenčič did her job well.
The best Slovenian competitor this season won the right to compete in the match after finishing tenth in the individual test on Thursday. She made good use of her first test with a group start in the World Cup and came away with the second highest ranking in the World Cup. She was higher in her career only at the World Championships in Oberhof, Germany, when she was eighth in the sprint.
This time she made three mistakes on the shooting range. First in the first shoot, when she started the second round as 25. She performed flawlessly in the second prone shoot and made it to 12th place. She completed both standing shots with one error and finished 1:28.9 minutes behind the winner.
“I’m really happy that I qualified for the match with a group start. It’s a really good match, you’re with the best. Top 15 again, but I’m a little annoyed by these last shots, two mistakes with the last shot again. For better the result will need to be collected a little more. But I am happy that in the end I managed to overtake two other competitors in the sprint and I improved my ranking.” said the current best Slovenian biathlete.
Wierer’s 50th career podium
With a flawless shooting performance, Wierer celebrated the 16th of her career, and stood on the podium 50. She crossed the finish line 6.3 seconds ahead of France’s Lou Jeanmonnot. The overall leader, another Frenchwoman, Julia Simon, was just under five seconds behind.
So far, Simon is the only one to exceed the 1000 point mark. With 1,003 points, Wierer has 144 points to go with three trials to go. Third is another Italian Lisa Vittozzi with 818 points. Polona Klemenčič advanced to 28th place, winning 184 points.
At 16:00 there will be a men’s test with a group start. There will be no Slovenians in the match.
Skupinski start (Ž), 12,5 km: *
1. D. WIERER ITA 31:58,5 (0)
2. L. JEANMONNOT FRA +6,3 (0)
3. J. SIMON FRA 11,1 (1)
4. M. O. ROEISELAND NOR 40,1 (1)
5. C. COLOMBO FRA 40,1 (2)
...
13. P. KLEMENČIČ SLO 1:28,9 (3)
* - zgrešeni streli/kazenske minute
Skupni vrstni red (18/21): 1. J. SIMON FRA 1003 točk 2. D. WIERER ŠVE 859 3. L. VITTOZZI ITA 818 28. P. KLEMENČIČ SLO 184 46. A. LAMPIČ SLO 91
Source: Rtvslo
