Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff, battling the wind in standing. ended up with 10-for-10 shooting that propelled her to the second IBU Sprint World Championship title of her career at Pokljuka. Eckhoff who won her previous title at Oslo in 2016, finished in 21:18.7. France’s Anais Chevalier-Bouchet, with one penalty won the Silver medal, 12 seconds back. Hanna Sola of Belarus, shooting clean won her first-ever individual podium and IBU WCH medal taking Bronze, 14.4 seconds back.

Germany’s Denise Herrmann, with one penalty finished fourth, 22.3 seconds back. Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi, shooting clean, finished in a season-best fifth place, 37.7 seconds back. Eckhoff’s teammate Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, with two penalties, finished sixth, 43.5 seconds back.

Herrmann Leads Early on the Sunny Side of the Alps

Slovenia’s Pokljuka lived up to its nickname today as the “Sunny Side of the Alps.” The women had brilliant blue skies, framing the snow-covered forest, that made the -10C temperature seem a bit warmer in the open areas and again, flat shooting range flags. Herrmann set the bar high with a clean prone stage after a solidly fast first loop. Olsbu Roeiseland matched on the range but was 3.6 seconds slower. Preuss, a few minutes later matched the top two, leaving in third. Eckhoff followed with q very conservative, but clean stage to get ahead of Preuss. Number 24 Chevalier-Bouchet raised the bar with her won perfect five shots, to move ahead of Herrmann.

Wind Picks Up; Eckhoff Goes 10-for-10

By the time the first women came to the standing stage, the wind was picking up, making it a lot more challenging. Herrmann battled, coming away with a single penalty to take the lead. The Yellow Bib struggled in standing, missing her third and last shots, but still left just 22 seconds behind the speedy German. Preuss battled he last shot longer than her rivals, hitting it after an earlier miss. However it was obviously Eckhoff’s day, she outdid all of her earlier rivals, cleaning to put 17 seconds between her and Herrmann heading into the last loop. Chevalier-Bouchet came to standing just a half-second out of the lead, but missed one shot, putting her 11.5 seconds behind Eckhoff.

Eckhoff’s lead seemed untouchable until Sola went 10-for-10, to grab a half-second lead. Vittozzi, starting with number 35 also was perfect after two stages, leaving in fifth which she maintained to the finish.

Chevalier-Bouchet and Sola in Podium Battle

Hermann was good on the last loop, but Eckhoff was flying continuing to add seconds to her lead until crossing with the top time. Sola lost two seconds by the 5.8 km split and another seven by the next split but was still ahead of Chevalier-Bouchet by a half-second. The two came to the finish line with medals on the line, with Chevalier-Bouchet pushing hard to the line, driving her ski tip across the line to move into second with Sola a few strides and 2.2 seconds farther back. Pushing Herrmann with her second-best result of the season from the podium.

“Happy to skip the penalty loop”

Sola revealed that she has been working for this medal since the beginning of the season. “I probably have not realized yet that I won this medal, but I have been preparing for this medal from the beginning of the season. I am very happy that I managed to do well in the first competitions at the World Championships.” She was pleased to shoot clean, especially in standing. “I was happy to skip the penalty loop. It was the first time this season that I shot clean. I had this big wish to fight, even though the final lap was pretty hard for me. I did all I could.”

Photos: IBU/ Thibaut, Manzoni