Botn and Guigonnat win in Ridnaun’s Sprint

Johan Olav Botn of Norway and Gilonne Guigonnat of France are the Sprint winners in Ridnaun.

For Botn, it was the sixth win of the season in the IBU Cup. It was the second consecutive win for Guigonnat in the IBU Cup after she took the Pursuit in Martell-Val Martello.

Botn's perfect Sprint

Botn - returning to the IBU Cup after a week stint in the World Cup - re-discovered his winning cadence on the shooting range and comfortably won in 23:05.9. His teammate Mats Oeverby, with 10/10, finished second, 18 seconds back. Danilo Riethmueller of Germany, also with 10/10, rounded up the podium in third place, 26.4 seconds behind Botn. It was Riethmueller's third consecutive finish in the third place.

The Winner's Words - Johan Olav Botn

After a poor shooting performance in Oberhof, I had a lengthy shooting discussion with my coach here. We have reset my pattern in the prone: today, I shot from right to left, and it worked perfectly well. It is good to win again.

Watch Men's Sprint Highlights

Vebjoern Soerum of Norway, with one miss in the prone, finished fourth, 50.7 seconds behind Botn and 1.4 seconds ahead of his colleague Martin Nevland in the fifth place. Another Norwegian, Martin Uldal, with one miss, completed the podium, 1:02.7 behind the winner.

Botn has 750 points atop the Total Score standings.

Guigonnat wins again

Earlier in the day, Gilonne Guigonnat of France won in the Women's Sprint. She was seventh after the prone, but stepped up her ski speed to win in 20:48.7. Sara Scattolo of Italy, with a perfect shooting score, achieved her first-ever IBU Cup podium in second place, just 5.8 seconds behind Guigonnat. Ida Lien of Norway, with 8/10, completed the podium, 10 seconds back the winner. Lien was the fastest skier of the day.

Guigonnat was seventh after the prone, but stepped up her ski speed to win in 20:48.7. Sara Scattolo of Italy, with a perfect shooting score, achieved her first-ever IBU Cup podium in second place, just 5.8 seconds behind Guigonnat. Ida Lien of Norway, with 8/10, completed the podium, 10 seconds back the winner. Lien was the fastest skier of the day.

The Winner's Words - Gillone Guigonnat

My good shooting form continues in Ridnaun. The last lap was really demanding as I knew that Sara Scattolo and Ida Lien pushed hard on the skis. Luckily, I had enough energy to finish strongly.

Watch Women's Sprint Highlights

Anna Andexer of Austria, with one miss, finished in fourth place, 17.5 seconds behind the winner from France. Johanna Puff of Germany, shooting a perfect score, finished fifth, 29 seconds behind Guigonnat. Selina Grotian of Germany, with one miss in the standing, rounded up the Flower ceremony 37 seconds behind the winner.

Jenny Enodd remains the Total Score leader.

Photo: H. Deubert: IBU Pool