Snowy Oberhof Sprint to Alexander Loginov

Russia’s Alexander Loginov, battling heavy snow and strong winds picked up a single prone penalty on his way to winning the Oberhof men’s 10 km sprint in 27:00.8. the victory was his first podium of the 2021/22 BMW IBU World Cup season. Emilien Jacquelin of France, with two penalties, finished second, 6.5 seconds back. Sturla Holm Laegreid of Norway, with one penalty finished third, 15.1 seconds back.

Oberhof Men's Sprint

“Right time for it” Loginov’s win today was the fourth of his career and his second victory at Oberhof and a big improvement on his season best of 10th (Oestersund sprint) in first trimester “I am very happy. This was a really good competition, especially since conditions were really tough. This is a big celebration for all our team…I am really happy and this was very important for me because before the New Year, the results were not so good. It was the right time for it.”

“Powerful enough” He knew it would be tough day. “Already at the start, I knew the competition would be really tough because of the windy and snowy conditions. But still with one penalty, I think the result was really great…I had to be powerful enough to do such a race. I was lucky to run the competition after Emilien so I could the necessary information to be better.

Germany’s Johannes Kuehn with two penalties, finished fourth, 18.6 seconds back. Germany’s Roman Rees, with one penalty finished fifth, 20.2 seconds back. Loginov’s teammate Anton Babikov shot clean for sixth place, 23 seconds back. Tough day for shooting: snow, wind and fog

After a spectacularly beautiful clear day yesterday, Oberhof pulled out its whole bag of tricks for today’s sprints with heavy snow, gusty winds, fog and the temperature at -2C. All of this combined for simply tough conditions for the first competition of 2022. Clean shooting was at a premium. With just six men closing all ten targets. Still starter 12 Andersen managed to clean the prone stage, grabbing an early lead over Laegreid with a penalty. Jacquelin, wearing the Yellow Bib for the first time in his career, shot faster than most and missed his second shot, but still moved into the lead by a mere .6 seconds. Loginov, starting eight minutes behind Jacquelin was one of the few men to clean prone.

Loginov moves up

Laegreid was the first man to clean standing. Kuehn also missed a prone shot that put him 25 seconds back, then added a second in standing but moved into fourth position. Jacquelin missed and added another penalty loop in standing but still left with a lead of 1.8 seconds. Loginov with a chance to take the lead, easily closed the first four targets, but missed the last one, leaving in third, 5.6 seconds behind Jacquelin.

Last loop decisive

The podium was decided in the last loop with everyone fighting the weather and fatigue. Solid shooting and a strong last loop put Laegreid on the board as the early leader. Kuehn was up to third by the 8.6 km split with a chance for the podium but Jacquelin and Loginov were yet to come. Jacquelin battled as hard as he could and took over at the top from Laegreid but his stay there was short-lived. By the 7.3 km split, Loginov was in the lead by 2.7 seconds and with 1400 meters to go it was still 2.1 seconds. A big push down the finish straight into the wind gave Loginov the win by 6.5 seconds over his French rival.

No pressure in Yellow

Despite being second, Jacquelin retained his hold on the Yellow Bib. “I was just excited to compete again with this Yellow Bib. This wind and weather was not a problem. I was just so satisfied and excited to compete. There was no pressure to wear this bib. I know biathlon and that in this kind of conditions the race could be really hard. I just focused on what I could do, do my best and that is all, so I am satisfied with my race.”

Rest and Christmas Food for Laegreid

Laegreid after some sickness in the first trimester had just his second podium of the season today and was beaming. “It feels really great. The Christmas break did me some good with a lot of rest and some good Christmas food. I had to relax a bit after the World Cup because I was really tired. I had this sickness in Oestersund and did not get back 100% in my shape. I just used the Christmas period for first resting and then after training hard, it worked out.” Photos: IBU Christian Manzoni

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