Of all things, Julian Eberhard robbed Pyeongchang of his chance to win his first biathlon medal on Sunday in Pyeongchang. In the 15-km mass start competition, the Salzburg rider had to settle for sixth place with a gap of 30.7 seconds. Without a penalty round the strong runner would probably have been sure of bronze.
Frenchman Martin Fourcade prevailed after a photofinish ahead of German World Champion Simon Schempp and won his second gold medal in South Korea and his fourth overall. After one mistake each time during the last shooting, the duo had thrown themselves side by side over the finish line, the six-time World Cup overall winner was at the front by one point.
The Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen won the bronze medal, putting the current World Champion (Schempp) and two former champions of seven on the podium. Svendsen was 11.2 seconds behind, at least this time would have been possible for Eberhard without any mistakes.
ÖSV-Cheft coach Reinhard Gösweiner had stated beforehand that the last two series at the shooting range were free of faults and that he had specified the prerequisites for winning precious metal. None of the three Austrians succeeded. Eberhard, the relay third of the 2017 World Championship at home, still had the chance to win a bronze medal despite two mistakes before the last five out of 20 shots thanks to his cross-country skiing qualities, but the last flap did not fall in a standing position.
“It is not a matter of course that you can come to Olympia in a good form and call it up. That was the big target. Medals probably fly to you when the time comes. I’ve come so far and I hope it’s soon,”said the Salzburg man, who was one of the best runners with a great atmosphere and hardly any wind, to the APA,”I also shot all four series really ambitiously. The last one was almost over, if I’d had it, then it would have been that time. It just has to fit together and I hope it will soon be so,”explained Eberhard.
Landertinger, the third of the individual competition and world champion of Pyeongchang 2009 in mass start, delivered another strong race. The 29-year-old only had to do one penalty lap. That was 12. Place with exactly one minute’s delay.
“It was a failed uptrend and it was a mistake to get through with the shooting technique, that was very good,”the Tyrolean said with satisfaction. In the sprint, he even won against the German sprint Olympic champion Arnd Peiffer, who, however, had made four penalty rounds.
Landertinger admitted that this time there was no medal for flawless shooting performance:”Those at the front were simply too strong,” but when he first shot, he had taken a bullet out, which cost him about ten seconds and the connection to the top.
Simon Eder had planned a lot for the last individual competition before the mixed relay on Tuesday and the men’s relay. In this discipline he won bronze at the home World Championships last year. However, the 34-year-old fourth in Sochi (20-km individual competition) was once again denied a repeat of this coup at the Olympics.
He put himself under pressure with a mistake right from the start of the first series:”It got me a little bit out of the comfort zone, the last freshness at the shooting range was no longer there. Then the quality was no longer sufficient for a zero,”explained the Saalfeldener.
Head coach Gösweiner knew that more would have been possible for his team, but unfortunately it was just one or two mistakes around the Alzerl that would have been enough for the front runners,”said the Upper Austrian. But that’s what biathlon is like:”That’s what makes it so exciting. We’re looking ahead now, there are two more competitions and we’re gonna focus on them.”
The decision as to who will compete in the mixed relay on Tuesday, or Whoever is spared for the men’s relay on Friday should fall in a late evening team meeting on Tuesday. With Lisa Theresa Hauser and Katharina Innerhofer, the ladies are ready for the mixed.