Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson did not miss a shot in this afternoon’s Nove Mesto na Morave Men’s 12.5 km Pursuit on the way to his first victory of the season in 32:22.1. Samuelsson took control in the second prone stage, going unchallenged for his first win since taking the Oestersund Pursuit in December 2023.

“Managed the standing shooting”

Besides being pleased with his win, Samuelsson was especially proud of his standing shooting and handling skiing alone in the lead for much of the competition. “It was a really great race. I am very satisfied with not only the win but from the prone shooting I was by myself, and I managed the standing shooting which has been so bad for me the entire season. I am very happy with my performance.”

“Celebrate with this crowd…amazing”

The winner celebrated a bit after cleaning the last standing but really was in the mood in the final few hundred meters. “I tried to push until the last uphill and then told myself, ‘now, you can enjoy it.’ I felt so good; we had really good skis; a prefect day. Being able to celebrate with this crowd was truly amazing.”

Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel and Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe finished second and third as in Thursday’s Sprint, with two and three penalties, 26.4 and 38.7 seconds back, respectively. . Boe’s third place finish put him back in the Yellow Bib, 836 points to Sturla Holm Laegreid’s 831.

France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet finished fourth, with three penalties, 45.5 seconds back. Boe’s teammate, Yellow Bib-wearing Sturla Holm Laegreid finished fifth, with one penalty, 53.2 seconds back. Switzerland’s Niklas Hartweg, also with a single penalty finished sixth, 1:14.8 back.

Pursuit Saturday was a carbon copy of the previous two days: a spring-like 16C short-sleeve day, with 20,000+ boisterous fans on hand.

Photos: IBU/Igor Stancik, Nordic Focus