Olsbu Roeiseland returns to her winning ways in Nove Mesto

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, with 10/10, won the Women’s 7.5km Sprint in Nove Mesto na Morave, her first win of the 2022/2023 season, in 19:28.4. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, missing one shot in prone, finished in second place, 20.5 seconds behind. Anais Chevalier-Bouchet, also with one miss, completed the podium in third place, 29.3 seconds behind Olsbu Roeiseland.

In love with the Nove Mesto fans

Olsbu Roeiseland kept the momentum of powerful performances from the BMW IBU World Championships Oberhof 2023 as she led from start to finish, clocking the fourth quickest course time and a second fastest range time, collecting her career-seventh Sprint win. She is the sixth different Sprint winner in 2022/2023, as no woman achieved two victories in the World cup in the Sprint this season.

“It has been quite a year, a long road to here. It feels so good to win again. I am in love with the crowd here. I had my first World cup win and competed at the IBU Y&J World Championships here. The atmosphere is so loud you can’t hear yourself,” said Olsbu Roeiseland, who earned her first-ever World cup win in the Sprint of Nove Mesto na Morave in 2018/2019.

Header iconNove Mesto na Morave - Sprint Women

Tandrevold was in a no-compromise mood as she scored second fastest course time behind Anamarija Lampič. She struggled in the standing shooting in Oberhof 2023, but her confidence came storming back with the Mass start Silver. One miss in the prone didn’t disturb her approach to the standing stage.

"Sprint is the most challenging discipline for me. I feel very happy right now. Biathlon can ground you anytime and it is important to stay humble," said Tandrevold.

Chevalier-Bouchet had the best Sprint performance of the 2022/2023 season. She missed once in the prone but increased her ski speed from lap to lap for her first Sprint podium of the season.

"I felt strong on the skis and increased my speed from lap to lap. It is for the first time in my career that I am in good shape at the end of the season," explained Chevalier-Bouchet, who achieved her only World cup win in Nove Mesto, in the Pursuit, in the 2016/2017 season.

Herrmann-Wick in driving seat for the Sprint Score title

Herrmann-Wick extended her lead in the World Cup Sprint Score to 47 points over Elvira Oeberg. Herrmann-Wick has 310 points to the Oeberg’s unchanged 263 before the last Sprint of the season in Oslo-Holmenkollen.

Dorothea Wierer was challenging for the win until the last shot and had to ski one penalty loop. Wierer finished in fourth place, 35.4 seconds behind the winner from Norway. Vanesa Voigt had her finest Sprint day of the winter. She shot 10/10 and finished fifth, 36.7 behind Olsbu Roeiseland and 1.8 seconds ahead of the Sprint World champion Denise Herrmann-Wick.

Julia Simon extends her Total Score lead

After a C-19 related break following the BMW IBU World Championships Oberhof 2023, the Total Score leader Julia Simon returned in action in Nove Mesto. Simon dug deep into her energy reserves to fight back in the second and third lap and finished in the Top 10. She extended her lead over Elvira Oeberg, who lacked her usual ski speed and had a poor shooting day with three misses in the prone. Simon finished ninth and added 32 points to her Total Score tally. She has 843 points before tomorrow’s Pursuit. Oeberg finished outside Top 40 and missed to win any points. Simon now has 108 points lead over Oeberg.

With six individual competitions - and 540 World cup points available - to go, Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, and Herrmann-Wick can still challenge for the Total Score with their path to the very top relatively narrow. Vittozzi trails Simon by 168, Wierer by 190, and Herrmann-Wick by 215 points.

Photo: IBU/C. Manzoni; J. Svoboda

Share this article

Header iconSign up for our newsletter