Latest news with #Bø
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lægreid wins World Cup as Bø falters; Jeanmonnot dethrones Preuss
Sturla Holm Lægreid denied Johannes Thingnes Bø a fairytale end of his career when he beat him for victory in a pursuit race in front of a Norwegian home crowd on Saturday to clinch the men's overall biathlon World Cup title with one race to spare. The women's World Cup will meanwhile be decided in Sunday's finale where French skier Lou Jeanmonnot has the momentum after taking the lead from German Franziska Preuss by winning the women's pursuit at Oslo's Holmenkollen. Lægreid and Bø entered the final shooting portion together but Bø then missed the final target for a race total of three and had to ski a penalty loop while Lægreid completed a clean shooting competition. Lægreid never looked back and clinched victory with a Norwegian flag in his hand, 15.5 seconds from Bø. Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet beat Italy's Tommaso Giacomel in a sprint for third place. Lægreid moved 104 points clear of Bø, with only Sunday's mass start left, to clinch the overall title and the pursuit discipline title as well. A victory is worth 90 points. "Johannes is in his best shape and impossible to beat. But today I did it. I did an incredible thing and secured the globe, so I really wrote down history after Johannes," the elated Lægreid said. 'I knew the whole race if I beat him, I would win the Total Score. I knew that going into the last shooting together, it was now or never! When I skied out on the last loop alone, I really could not believe it. It is a dream come true really." The consistent Lægreid won three season races and had 12 podiums in all as he won the overall title for the first time after three previous runner-up finishes. A smiling Bø took a bow before Lægreid when he crossed the line. He had kept the title race alive by beating him for victory in Friday's sprint but now misses out on a record-equalling sixth title. "He delivers what is the perfection of biathlon. 20 hits is so difficult to achieve and he does it time after time. He's become so hard to beat and now he's the very best," Bø said in praise of Lægreid. Bø will end his career highlighted by 23 world titles and five Olympic gold medals after Sunday's race. On thw women's side, Jeanmonnot overturned a 35-point deficit on fifth-place finisher Preuss into a five-point lead with an eighth season victory, 22.2 seconds from Sweden's Elvira Öberg with one penalty loop. Lena Häcki-Gross of Switzerland was third. Preuss, who beat Jeanmonnot by two-tenth for victory in the sprint on Friday, missed three targets, suffered a broken pole in a duel with Häcki-Gross and failed to beat her and Norway's Ida Lien in a fight for third on the final lap. "maybe it was nerves," Preuss admitted to German broadcasters ARD in reference to her uncharacteristic three penalties which saw her lose the World Cup lead she had held since mid-December. "The last lap was very tough. I did my very best. I fought for every position but it wasn't possible. It hurts. I have to digest this first," Preuss said.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lægreid claims World Cup with pursuit win as Bø misses final target
Sturla Holm Lægreid denied Johannes Thingnes Bø a fairytale end of his career when he beat him for victory in a pursuit race in front of a Norwegian home crowd on Saturday to clinch the men's overall biathlon World Cup title with one race to spare. Both entered the final shooting portion together at Oslo's Holmenkollen but Bø then missed the final target for a race total of three and had to ski a penalty loop while Lægreid shot clean. Lægreid, who hit all 20 targets, never looked back and clinched victory with a Norwegian flag in his hand, 15.5 seconds from Bø. Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet beat Italy's Tommaso Giacomel in a sprint for third place. Lægreid moved 104 points clear of Bø, with only Sunday's mass start left, to clinch the overall title and the pursuit discipline title as well. A victory is worth 90 points. The consistent Lægreid won thee season races and had 12 podiums in all as he won the overall title for the first time after three previous runner-up finishes. A smiling Bø took a bow before Lægreid when he crossed the line. He had kept the title race alive by beating him for victory in Friday's sprint but now misses out on a record-equalling sixth title. Bø will end his career highlighted by 23 world titles and five Olympic gold medals after Sunday's race. The women's pursuit is later Saturday, with German Franziska Preuss leading French rival Lou Jeanmonnot by 35 points after beating her by two-tenths of a second for victory on Friday in the sprint.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bø and Preuss start Oslo climax in style to boost overall hopes
Norwegian biathlon star Johannes Thingnes Bø reignited his late World Cup title charge with a mistake-free victory in front of adoring fans in Oslo in his final sprint before retirement. Germany's Franziska Preuss meanwhile moved a step closer to her first overall globe with women's sprint victory on Friday. The 31-year-old edged out big title rival Lou Jeanmonnot of France by just 0.2 seconds after 7.5 kilometres. Preuss leads Jeanmonnot by 35 points heading into Saturday's pursuit and Sunday's season-ending mass start, when overall glory is likely to be decided. With her third victory of the season, Preuss has already secured the sprint title after shooting flawlessly. Five-times overall men's champion Bø was forced to withdraw halfway through the Pokljuka World Cup meet last week because of illness, meaning he missed out on vital points in his title battle with compatriot Sturla Holm Lægreid. Lægreid, who also shot clean, was 25.7 seconds adrift in second on Friday after the 10km sprint at the sport's spiritual home in Holmenkollen. Norwegians finished in the top five spots. Bø still trails his rival by 89 points. It sets up another thrilling finale in Saturday's pursuit and Sunday's mass start as Bø targets a sixth and final crown to match fellow Norwegian icon Ole Einar Bjørndalen. It is still odds against for five-times Olympic champion Bø, but he at least sealed the sprint season title on Friday after a fourth victory of the season and 91st career World Cup win. "I'm eternally grateful to be able to experience this one last time," 31-year-old Bø, who also took three golds at the recent world championships to amass 23 overall, told NRK. His brother Tarjei is also retiring after Sunday but missed Friday's race with a fever.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bø starts Olso climax in style to boost overall hopes
{microsoft_credit="" caption="Oslo 20250321. (L-R) Norway's second placed Sturla Holm Laegreid, winner Johannes Thingnes Boe and third placed Johannes Dale-Skjevdal celebrate on the podium after the men's 10 km in the Biathlon World Cup in Holmenkollen. Javad Parsa/NTB/dpa"} Norwegian biathlon star Johannes Thingnes Bø reignited his late World Cup title charge with a mistake-free victory in front of adoring fans in Oslo in his final sprint before retirement. The five-times overall champion was forced to withdraw halfway through the Pokljuka World Cup meet last week because of illness, meaning he missed out on vital points in his title battle with compatriot Sturla Holm Lægreid. Lægreid, who also shot clean, was 25.7 seconds adrift in second on Friday after the 10-kilometre sprint at the sport's spiritual home in Holmenkollen. Norwegians finished in the top five spots. Bø still trails his rival by 89 points. It sets up a thrilling finale in Saturday's pursuit and Sunday's mass start as Bø targets a sixth and final crown to match fellow Norwegian icon Ole Einar Bjørndalen. The women's 7.5km sprint follows on Friday, with German Franziska Preuss and France's Lou Jeanmonnot battling for overall glory.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Perrot claims second gold at biathlon worlds, Bø no factor
Frenchman Eric Perrot claimed his second gold and third medal at the biathlon world championships on Wednesday, while Norwegian star Johannes Thingnes Bø was no factor this time around. Perrot won the individual race over 20 kilometres with one missed target in the shooting range, the gold coming after mixed team gold and pursuit bronze last week. Italy's Tommaso Giacomel led until the final shooting but then missed the penultimate of 20 targets and had to settle for silver, 52.4 seconds behind Perrot. France could also celebrate a second Lenzerheide bronze for Quentin Fillon Maillet, who made the podium despite three missed targets, trailing Perrot by 1 minute 59.5 seconds. "I just did my biathlon. I knew after the pursuit that I can fight for the victory. This is incredible," Perrot told German broadcasters ARD. It was France's fourth gold from seven events at the championships, with five races still to come. In the 20km athletes don't have penalty laps after mistakes in the shooting range, but one minute added to their skiing time for each missed target. Twice reigning 20km champion Bø, who had dominated the sprint and pursuit for a record 22 career world titles, was out of contention early with three missed targets in the first session. Retirement-bound Bø added two more to finish more than four minutes off the pace in 20th place on a bad day for Norway, with Endre Strømsheim their best in ninth. Only two of the 97 starters shot clean on Wednesday, Finland's Olli Hiidensalo in fourth and 13th-placed Belgian Thierry Langer. The Lenzerheide worlds continue on Thursday with the single mixed relay.
