Dominik Landertinger won Austria’s first biathlon medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang on Thursday. The 29-year-old Tyrolean won bronze in the individual event over 20 km thanks to a flawless shooting performance. Gold went to the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö, silver to the faultless Slovenian Jakov Fak in spite of two penalty minutes.
Landertinger was only 14.2 seconds short of the winner. The former world champion had not counted him among the favourites after a disc surgery in September, which had thrown him back in preparation. For Landertinger it is the fourth Olympic medal of his career, the second in a single race after silver medal in the 2014 Sprint in Sochi. He also won his world championship title in 2009 in Pyeongchang.
Eight-time World Cup season winner Bö won his first Olympic gold medal. World Cup leader Martin Fourcade took the lead in the last two shots and was 42.4 seconds behind his Norwegian rival in the end. The Salzburgers Simon Eder and Julian Eberhard landed after two respectively six months. three mistakes in the top ten.