Sivert Gerhardsen of Norway and Sophie Chauveau of France claimed victory in the Short Individual at the IBU Cup in Arber, Germany. Gerhardsen, still only 21 years old, celebrated his first-ever IBU Cup win, while Chauveau won her first Individual race of her career.

Used to winds, Gerhardsen triumphs

Gerhardsen, the gold medallist in the Individual at last winter’s IBU Junior World Championships in Oestersund, drew on his experience of growing up and training in northern Norway, where strong winds are common. Despite one miss in the first prone, he won in 40:04.0 and dedicated his victory to Sivert Guttorm Bakken, who tragically passed away in December. Emilien Claude of France (19/20) finished second, 50.8 seconds behind Gerhardsen, while Norway’s Vetle Paulsen completed the podium despite three misses, finishing 1:17.3 behind the winner.

Chauveau atop the clean-shooting podium

Delivering a flawless performance on the range, Chauveau cleared all 20 targets for the first time in her IBU Cup career to secure victory in 36:21.0 despite having spent most of the days after Christmas in bed with a virus. Behind her, Sweden’s Anna Hedstrom and Emma Nilsson also produced perfect shooting displays, finishing second and third to celebrate the first IBU Cup podiums of their careers.

Photo: Harald Deubert / IBU Photo Pool