Paula Botet of France and of Christoph Pircher of Italy won in the Sprint at the IBU Cup in Brezno-Osrblie. For Botet, the IBU Cup Total Score leader, it was the sixth win of the season.

Sixth triumph for Botet

Botet, with 10/10, won in 20:25.3 in what was a closely-contested Sprint. Her teammate Gilonne Guigonnat, with one miss in the prone, finished second, just 1.8 seconds behind. Samuela Comola of Italy, with a perfect day on the shooting range, finished third, 5.1 seconds behind Botet. Comola scored her career-first IBU Cup podium.

After her fourth IBU Cup win the Sprint this winer, Botet, despite missing the Lenzerheide week due to her World Cup appearance in Annecy–Le Grand-Bornand, remained atop the Total Score standings with 697 points. Second is Voldiya Galmace-Paulin with 618 points.

Pircher surprises the field

Pircher of Italy, shooting 10/10, won the men’s Sprint in 23:47.8. It was the first victory for the 22-year-old Italian in the IBU Cup. In a competition full of career firsts, Magnus Oberhauser of Austria, also shooting clean, finished second, 8.5 seconds behind Pircher, to claim his first-ever IBU Cup podium. Petr Hak of Czechia, the bronze medalist in the Mass Start 60 at last year’s IBU Junior World Championships, secured his first IBU Cup podium with flawless shooting, finishing 17.3 seconds behind the winner.

Vetle Paulsen of Norway retained his lead in the Total Score standings.

Photo: Augustin Authamayou: IBU Photo Pool