Fredrik Vold of Norway, making his career debut in the IBU Cup, and Paula Botet of France won the Sprints in Arber. The first 14 men and the first 12 women finished within one minute of each other, setting the stage for dramatic Pursuits tomorrow.

Fifth win of the season for Botet

Bouncing back from her World Cup disappointment in Annecy–Le Grand-Bornand and a poor shooting performance in the Short Individual, Paula Botet delivered a strong second half of the race. With one missed shot, she won in 22:58.1, claiming her fifth IBU Cup victory of the season. Sophia Schneider of Germany, also with one miss, finished second, just 7.9 seconds behind Botet. Amandine Mengin of France, with a perfect 10/10, completed the podium in third place, 8.9 seconds behind the winner.

Sophie Chauveau (4th), Gilonne Guigonnat (5th) and Celia Henaff (6th) made the Flower Ceremony a very French affair.

Botet regained the Total Score lead with 552 points, just six points ahead of Voldiya Galmace-Paulin.

Vold seizes the opportunity

The 22-year-old Vold qualified for the IBU Cup team through the Norwegian Cup and immediately made his mark, winning the Sprint in 28:10.9 despite one missed shot. It was the first victory of his career at any level. Just like in the Short Individual, Emilien Claude of France, who had a perfect day on the shooting range, finished second, only 3.3 seconds behind Vold. Sivert Gerhardsen of Norway, the winner of the Short Individual, completed the podium with 9/10, finishing 9.5 seconds behind his teammate.

Vetle Paulsen leads in the Total Score with 411 points.

Photo: H. Deubert:IBU Photo Pool