Sverre Dahlen Aspenes and Gro Randby, both of Norway, won the Sprint at the IBU Cup in Lake Placid. Randby celebrated her first-ever win in the IBU Cup.

Aspenes the fastest in strong winds of Lake Placid

Going all-in in windy conditions, Aspenes took the lead after the first shooting with 5/5, cleared the first three targets in the standing, and, backed by the second-fastest skiing time, won in 24:04.6. Danilo Riethmueller of Germany, after a poor shooting performance in the Short Individual (14/20), missed just one shot in today’s Sprint and clinched second place, 11.2 seconds behind Aspenes. Ole Suhrke of Norway, with three misses and the fastest skiing time, completed the podium in third place, 28.1 seconds behind the winner. Suhrke achieved his first podium in the IBU Cup.

Gaetan Paturel of France, fourth in today’s Sprint, remained in the narrow lead of the Total Score standings with 783 points, 23 ahead of his teammate Damien Levet (fifth today). In the Sprint Score, Levet holds a 24-point advantage over Paturel with one Sprint remaining.

Randby out-skis the filed for a win

Just like in the Short Individual, Randby (8/10), clocked the fastest course time and won in 21:25, for a career-first IBU Cup win. Annie Lined of Sweden, with 10/10, finished in the second place, 26.8 seconds behind the winner. Sara Andersson (9/10), also of Sweden, completed the podium in third place, 36 seconds behind Randby.

Paula Botet of France retained her lead in the Total Score standings with 996 points and needs 91 points from the next three competitions to clinch the title. Botet has also won the Sprint Score.

Photo: Federica Vanzetta / IBU Photo Pool