An incredible ski time gave the Norwegians victory in the junior relay race over 4 x 7.5 kilometers. The team managed to make up for their mistakes at the shooting range. Tobias Alm and Ole Suhrke had to go into the penalty loop and Sivert Gerhardsen and Isak Frey also had to reload. But in the end, the Norwegian national anthem played again. It is already the eighth gold medal for Norway at the IBU Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepaa.
Stepan Kinash, Bohdan Borkovskyi, Serhii Suprun and Vitalii Mandzyn only needed a total of eleven reloads, making them among the best shooters in the entire field. It is the first junior medal for a relay team from Ukraine. The French team was able to save the bronze medal at the finish. Jacques Jeffries shot a penalty round in the standing position and was therefore no longer able to intervene in the battle for victory between Norway and Ukraine. However, with enough of a lead over the chasing Germany and Czech Republic, he finished third. There was also a reason to celebrate for Denmark. For the first time, the Danish team of Osvald Groenning, Emil Frisk, Asbjorn Boye and Jens Dalgaard finished a relay without being lapped. They finished in 21st place.
After the first lap, everything was still even in the women's race. But after the first change from Alina Nussbicker to Julia Tannheimer, the 18-year-old managed to push her team further and further ahead. She only needed one reload and was the first to hand over to Julia Kink. She managed to extend her lead over the other teams, as did the final skier Marlene Fichtner. Germany thus defended its title from last year.
Maren Brannare-Gran finished behind Marlene Fichtner and secured the silver medal for her team of Ann Kristin Aaland, Gro Randby and Guro Femsteinevik. With a total of 14 medals, Norway leads the medal table at the World Championships in Otepaa. Behind the Norwegian team, France won the silver medal with Leonie Jeannier, Fany Bertrand, Celia Henaff and Lisa Siberchicot.
The German team secured the crystal globes in both the Nations Cup and the overall relay standings in the IBU Junior Cup 2023/24 season.
Photos: IBU I Osula