After stepping on the top of the podium two days ago in Arber, Russia’s Tatiana Akimova continued her streak today. One standing penalty allowed the Russian to claim her second consecutive win, finishing the women's sprint in 22:58.1. Later that day, clean-shooting and fast-skiing Filip Andersen of Norway finished the men's sprint in 24:39.9, exchanging the second place from the previous sprint to the highest step of the podium.

Women's sprint

Akimova's teammate Anastasia Shevchenko also missed once to finish in second place, just 4 seconds back. Third place was claimed by France’s clean-shooting Camille Bened, 5.4 seconds behind.

The Moldovan surprise Alina Stremous closed all her targets to finish fourth, 7.6 seconds back. Sweden’s clean-shooting Tilda Johansson claimed fifth place with 23.9 seconds back, while her teammate, youth athlete Sara Andersson, missed once in standing, taking sixth place, 29 seconds back.

First-ever senior podium for Bened

Wearing bib 45 today, Akimova showed strength throughout the competition. Shooting clean in prone and with one penalty in standing, she left both stages in the lead. Placing third after the prone and standing, Shevchenko found her second wind and managed to pass clean-shooting Bened in the finish, claiming the second place. Young Camille Bened, the 2020 Junior World Champion in the junior women's relay, regained 12 positions after the second shooting and managed to keep the good performance until the end, taking her first-ever senior competition podium.

Men’s sprint

After not that perfect performance two days ago, Germany’s Philipp Nawrath corrected the mistake today. Despite one standing penalty, the German finished second, 46.8 seconds behind Andersen. Sivert Guttorm Bakken of Norway came third with one penalty in prone and 49 seconds back.

Team Norway continued their success with Haavard Gutuboe Bogetveit in fourth and Endre Stroemsheim in sixth places. Two penalties and 56.3 seconds back for Bogetveit, while Stroemsheim missed three targets and crossed the finish line 59.7 seconds behind Andersen. Italy’s Daniele Cappellari shot clean and became fifth, 57.8 seconds back.

Best senior competition in Andersen’s career

The winner, 21-year old Filip Andersen has proved to be a valuable asset for the Norwegian team. Finishing second two days ago, Andersen pushed himself even more, claiming the win in his second-ever international senior competition. With excellent shooting and the second fastest course time of the day, the young Norwegian was clearly satisfied with today’s competition.

While Andersen kept the lead since the prone, Nawrath and Bakken had to battle for the remaining podium spots. Entering standing in second position, the German made one mistake and dropped down to 5th position. Nevertheless, showing good ski speed, Nawrath managed to finish second. After clearing four targets in prone, Bakken was 6th when he left the shooting range, 23.9 seconds behind Andersen. However, perfect standing shooting pushed Bakken up to the 4th place, leaving the fate of third place in his hands as no one else could challenge the podium. Just 1.1 km before the finish line, the Norwegian showed his best, closing the gap and climbing to third place, which he kept until the final meters.

IBU Cup 1 in Arber, GER, will continue on January 17th with relays.

Photos: IBU/Harald Deubert