Fauner and Perrot win Brezno-Osrblie Sprints

Eleonora Fauner of Italy and Eric Perrot of France are the Sprint winners at the IBU Cup in Brezno-Osrblie.

Fauner won for the first time in her career in the IBU Cup, Perrot doubled-down on his Thursday’s Super Sprint win.

Fauner wins on a great day for Italy

Fauner, shooting 10/10, scored her first-ever IBU Cup win in 19:51.4. Her teammate Hannah Auchentaller, with no penalty, finished second, 10.1 seconds back and Juni Arnekleiv of Norway, with one miss, third, 12.3 seconds behind the winner from Italy. For Auchentaller it was a career-first IBU Cup podium, for Arnekleiv a second one in Brezno-Osrblie, her favourite venue.

“I am very pleased with my performance today. I did a balanced race for my first-ever win in the IBU Cup. This is a very important day for me,” said Fauner.

Frida Dokken of Norway, with 9/10, achieved fourth place, 16 seconds behind Fauner. Beatrice Trabucchi, also perfect on the shooting range, completed a very Italian flower ceremony with fifth place, 23.9 seconds behind the winner. Juliane Fruehwirt of Germany had one miss and came in sixth, 26.4 seconds behind Fauner.

Maren Kirkeeide of Norway finished 16th today but kept the leader’s position in the IBU Cup Total Score, 10 points ahead of Gillone Guigonnat of France, who crossed the finish line 12th.

IBU Cup Brezno-Osrblie - Sprints

Perrot’s stunning second half

Eric Perrot missed once in the prone but flew through the second half of the race as he shot with great rhythm and authority in the standing stage and skied the fastest time of the day. He won in 23:30.6. His clean-shooting teammate Isak Frey finished second in his only second IBU Cup competition, 24 seconds back. IBU Cup Total Score leader Endre Stroemsheim missed once in the prone and collected another podium, ending a short crisis.

“I focused on what I had to do: skiing fast in a good rhythm and staying calm on the shooting range. I had some problems with shooting at the beginning of the season, and this performance gives me a lot of confidence for the coming weeks,” said Perrot.

Mats Oeverby was fourth, 35.6 seconds behind Perrot. Daniele Cappelari of Italy shot 10/10 and finished in fifth place, 37.5 seconds behind the winner from France. American Maxime Germain, with one miss, and German Philipp Nawrath, with two misses, wrapped up the flower podium 42.1 seconds behind Perrot.

Stroemsheim has a 127-point lead over Oeverby in the Total Score standings.

Photo: IBU/I. Stančik

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