Biathlon World Cup 2016 (stage 6) - Women's 7,5km Sprint race

BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup 2016 (stage 6) - Women's 7,5km Sprint race
21.01.2016, Antholz

Antholz Sprint to Olga Podchufarova

First and Third for Russia
23-year old Olga Podchufarova of Russia shot clean to claim the first World Cup victory of her career today, winning the Antholz sprint in 21:01.9. Second went to the local hero, Dorothea Wierer of Italy with her personal best at Antholz, despite a standing penalty. She finished eight seconds back. Russia's Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht finished third, her season best, also shooting clean, 22.1 seconds back.

Anais Bescond of France was fourth, with one penalty, 24.7 seconds back, while Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine, also with one penalty was fifth, 27.5 seconds back. Bescond's teammate Marie Dorin Habert, with two penalties, was sixth, 32.8 seconds back.

A typical day in Antholz; sunny, cold but not too cold and a light wind greeted the women this afternoon.

Pidhrushna Leads Early

Early good prone shooting put Olena Pidhrushna in the lead. Rather quickly, Podchufarova took over with a fast clean stage, daring the rest of the field to match her. Wierer, who admitted she has never done well at Antholz jumped to an 8 second lead over the Russian. Soukalova cleaned prone rather slowly and was just behind the young Russian after that stage. Several others including Bescond and Yurlova also cleaned prone, but were 16 seconds or more behind Podchufarova.

Clean Standing and Victory

The altitude and the bit of extra fatigue showed rather quickly in the standing stage. Podchufarova cleaned. Wierer came to the shooting range next; clean shooting would put her in the lead. It was not to be; on penalty loop and she was 14 seconds back with 2.5K to go. The powerful Italian tried to rein in the Russian, but did not have enough power and crossed 8 seconds back. Now the battle was for the other podium spots. Soukalova had to shoot clean to get on the podium; she shot slowly four times and the targets closed but the last one stayed black. 33 seconds would be a huge gap to close and she was not up to that today. Bescond also had a penalty, but was able to move into third place until about 10 minutes later, when the World Champion Yurlova cleaned just as her teammate had. She left standing in third and held it to get just ahead of Bescond and take the last podium spot.

Emotional Experience

The first career victory was an emotional experience for the young Russian. I am very, very happy; I have waited since the beginning of the season for this. I knew that I was physically stronger, had trained harder and a mentally stronger than before...It is even better because my roommate is on the podium also." She said that she is an Antholz fan. "I like it; it is cold and the snow is just like Russia."

So Much Pressure; Shaking

Wierer may have been the most relieved athlete in the stadium. After years of never making the podium at home; today she was full of smiles as the streak was broken. "I am really happy to do this because there was so much pressure; I finally switched off my phone and tried to relax."

She was equally thrilled with a single penalty. "I was happy to miss only one, because my legs were shaking so bad."

Second Career Podium

Today's podium was only the second of Yurlova's career; her World Championship last year was her first ever. She admitted that her slow start to the season was "due to some injuries in the fall that slowed me down."

Видео Biathlon World Cup 2016 (stage 6) - Women's 7,5km Sprint race канала International Biathlon Union