“Perfect race…not so perfect conditions”

Today’s win made Fak the second-oldest World Cup winner behind the legendary Ole Einar Bjorndalen. He admitted it was, “A perfect race in not so perfect conditions. I think this is a big thank you to the organizers and to everybody who had the will and endured these conditions, the rain and everything. I am pretty happy and pretty proud of myself.”

“Daddy, are you going to win the race?”

Fak’s three daughters, all under the age of nine saw him win for the first time ever. “It’s quite emotional. Still, I need to settle down the emotions. But I’m proud that I could win a race in front of my children. They always say, ‘Daddy, are your going to win the race? I say it’s not so easy anymore, but I will try.’ I always do my best. I don’t succeed a lot of times, but I am very proud I did today.”

Laegreid wins World Cup Individual Score; Returns to Yellow

Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, with one penalty finished second, 34.1 seconds back, giving him the World Cup Individual Score small Crystal Globe, the title he also won in 2021. Laegreid’s second vaulted him back into Yellow with 1006 points while Johannes Thingnes Boe’s 10th place dropped him to second. “The only thing I thought about today was finishing ahead of Johannes. In the last loop, I thought I might take the Individual Globe, but the Yellow Bib was what I was thinking the most about…The battle with Johannes will stay on until the last race.”

Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma, with two penalties finished in a season-best third place, 44.3 seconds back. Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel, with two penalties, finished fourth, 51.2 seconds back. Laegreid’s teammate Johannes Dale Skjevdal finished in a season-best fifth place with one penalty, 1:24.4 back. France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet with three penalties, finished sixth, 1:48.3 back.

Heavy precipitation fell during the competition; the tracks remained slow and deep. JT and Fak both cleaned the first prone with the same time. Laegreid then shot faster for a 5-second lead and later Ponsiluoma jumped into second.