Sad Bo, a beacon of hope for Ukrainians, and the enchanting France. A recap of Ruppolding's highlights.
A Sad "Coming Out"
First, let’s clarify that the headline refers to something different than one might think. Recently, the biathlon world was stunned by the news that Johannes Thingnes Bø is retiring after the season ends! The Norwegian himself announced this at a special press conference.
3Of course, everyone understands that an athlete's career is not infinite, but there were at least expectations that Johannes would compete in the Olympic Games, which will take place next year in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Well, the decision has been made, and fans can only enjoy watching the races of this living legend of biathlon this season.
The German stages have been quite challenging for Johannes, who suffered from an illness during the Christmas break and managed to secure "only" two bronze medals in six races, which can be considered a failure for the leader of world biathlon, especially with an 85th place finish in the individual race in Ruhpolding. By the way, during the "individual" race, Bø junior missed five shots and even considered withdrawing mid-race, but his opponent Émilien Jacquelin "encouraged" him. The Frenchman noticed that Johannes had already taken his poles off and was about to leave the course, but Jacquelin's words that "it’s not fitting for the World Cup leader to simply quit" motivated him to finish. So, just 85th place – the worst result in Johannes Thingnes Bø's career!
4A Ray of Light
Undoubtedly, in this moment, we highlight the Ukrainian men's team, which demonstrated a good result in the relay. The team, consisting of Pidhrushnyi, Mandziuk, Dudchenko, and Lesiuk, finished sixth in Ruhpolding, achieving the best relay result of the season. The start of the race was simply spectacular, as the Ukrainian team reached the halfway point in second place! Read more about this race in our report.
Ukrainian fans are used to being delighted by our female biathletes with good results, but since the departure of the "golden" team (the Semerenko sisters, Pidhrushna, and Dzhima), the results of the women have been far from perfect. Yes, Yuliia Dzhima continues to compete and has a fourth place this season, but to be frank, there are not many hopes for medals. While shooting is relatively okay, the speed is catastrophic.
Of course, we don't want to overly praise the men's team, as among our four athletes in the "individual" race, the best result was Vitalii Mandziuk's 55th place. Vitalii himself briefly commented on his performance:
5And Pidhrushnyi's 98th place (with 8 misses) marked the worst result for Dmytro in the past 10 years! The worst was the sprint in Pokljuka during the 2012/2013 season – 98th place. At the same time, let’s not forget that both Mandziuk and Pidhrushnyi regularly compete in mass starts this season and are in the top 30 of the overall ranking.
Additionally, the men's team is in seventh place (the women are ninth) in the Nations Cup ranking, which, after finishing 11th last season, gives some hope for an increased quota for the next season.
In short, the men's relay provided great emotions for the fans, for which we simply say "Thank you!" and will continue to support all our athletes.
Italian Colleagues
A very similar situation is occurring with the Italian team. Lisa Vittozzi is missing the season, while Dorothea Wierer has not been "shining" lately, only showcasing her charming smile.
6After the disappointing relays for the Italian team: men finished 18th, women 13th, Tommaso Giacomel delighted the fans on Sunday! The leader of the "Squadra" unexpectedly managed to win the mass start race! Perfect shooting under immense pressure at the last shooting range, Giacomel won the "shootout" against Johannes Bø, bringing Italy its first medal of the season!
Just look at Tommaso's emotions:
This performance brings optimism to the fans of the Italian team ahead of the home stage of the World Cup, which starts on January 23 in Antholz-Anterselva.
Team of the Stage
Naturally, this is the French men's team. Few could have imagined at the beginning of the season that the French would win three consecutive men's relays, considering that the Norwegian team is traditionally strong in this discipline.
Fabien and Émilien Claude, Fillion Maillet, and Jacquelin are simply performing wonders in the team this season. In Ruhpolding, this quartet won by nearly 40 seconds over Sweden, leaving no chance for other teams to compete with the leaders of the Nations Cup.
7Despite the individual successes of the Norwegians, the "tricolors" still remain the leaders of the Nations Cup, and the French women's team also performed well, finishing third in the relay at this stage.
With one more stage before the World Championship in Anterselva, we are soon heading toward the climax of a season that seemed to have just begun.