France’s Martin Fourcade took control after the first standing stage, then dominated the rest of the men’s 20 km individual this afternoon, going on to win the IBU World Championship Gold medal for the fourth time in this discipline. The Yellow Bib finished in 49:43.1 after missing only one shot, his last one of the day. Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe, with two penalties won the Silver medal, with two penalties, 57 seconds back. Dominik Landertinger of Austria won the Bronze medal, also with one penalty, 1:22.1 back.

Jakov Fak of Slovenia, with one penalty finished fourth, 1:30.2 back. Switzerland’s Benjamin Weger, with two penalties finished fifth, 2:25.5 back. Sixth place went to Tarjei Boe with three penalties, 2:32.6 back.

Windy Gray Day; Tarjei Leads

Antholz continues to be charmed with good weather, but today, the sun was hidden behind a sheet of gray clouds with +2C. A strong wind crossed the shooting range from the left making shooting a challenge again in a competition where every shooting penalty carried a heavy one-minute penalty. On a tough shooting day, only one man of the 105 starters, Leif Nordgren of the USA in a personal-best 8th place closed every target.

Right from the start, several men cleaned the first prone with number 21 Tarjei taking the first stage lead 10 seconds up on the field. 2012 IBU World Champion Fak followed a minute later with his own clean stage. Fourcade as usual shot very slowly but perfectly to move to 4 seconds behind Tarjei. Defending Champion Peiffer made his bid closing all five targets with ease, to move just behind Tarjei but fell out of contention later with five more penalties. Johannes put himself at a disadvantage, missing his last shot, to leave 44 seconds behind his brother but in the medal mix.

Fourcade Takes ControlLandertinger became the first man to go 10-for-10, while Tarjei missed one shot, but skiing fast left just 17 seconds back. Fourcade came to the range with the fastest time, shot a bit faster, cleaned and took over the lead by almost a minute. Peiffer missed two shots to fall out of contention. Johannes struggled a bit with the wind but cleaned his first standing stage to move 35 seconds back of Fourcade.

15-for-15

Fourcade retained control of the competition with another very slow but clean stage, to go 15-for-15, putting him 55 seconds faster than the also perfect Landertinger. Tarjei remained in the hunt, shooting clean to but 20 seconds behind the Austrian holding second. Fak matched a minute later to move in just behind Tarjei. Johannes made the competition more interesting by closing all five targets to jump to second position just 30 seconds behind Fourcade.

Missed Shots in Last Standing StageLandertinger missed his chance for perfection by missing his last shot in the last standing stage. Tarjei missed two shots to end his medal hopes. Fak hit the first four shots, reset his position and closed the last one to put him 17 seconds ahead of Landertinger. The Yellow Bib came to the last standing with a 2:13 lead, shot slowly but missed his final shot. He grimaced but still left with a 1:08 lead over Fak. Johannes shot on protected lane 30 and missed one shot, leaving him 38 seconds behind his French rival.

Hammer Down for the WinFourcade put the hammer down in the last loop to finish 1:22 in front of Landertinger. Johannes closed some of the gap in the last 4 km loop but it was not enough; he finished second ahead of Landertinger after Fak faded in the last loop to set the podium.

“More than I Expected”Landertinger, after years of back problems that flared up again this season admitted that recent physiotherapy since Christmas was the key to his performance today. The Bronze medal was simply “more than I expected.”

Photos: IBU/Petr Slavik, Christian Manzoni