– Almost unreal – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

The leading Norwegian women had opted to start late and it was a while before the sprint results at Hochfilzen were ready. Belarusian Dzinara Alimbekava took an impressive lead, with her starting number 21, and the race proved to be unbeatable.

– It’s not normal, said Ola Lunde when Marte Olsbu Røiseland started from the first shot with a full house, but seven seconds behind the 24-year-old.

For Alimbekava, who finished 88th in the first sprint of the season, but climbed considerably and finished fourth at the start of last weekend’s hunt at Kontiolahti, she stayed away from the big stars. The two leaders of the World Cup, Hanna Öberg, Dorothea Wierer and Franziska Preuss, had to be defeated. Røiseland and Tiril Eckhoff had to do it too.

– It’s almost unreal what Alimbekava does today, says Andreas Stabrun Smith after he secured the win.

– We have changed the training plan and we have got new coaches this season, plus I think differently mentally. But I did not think that victory would come so quickly, she says herself at the press conference.

He was warned by Domracheva

NRK expert Liv Grete Skjelbreid also thinks the winner was surprising, but says she has seen potential in the runner, who was part of the relay team that took gold at the 2018 Olympics.

– Darja Domracheva told me at the World Cup that “there you have to be careful.” He skied very well technically, a bit like Darja really did. I saw her on the track both at the World Cup and at Kontiolahti, she says.

– You have taken a giant step. That is amazing. It’s great that so many nations are doing well, says Ingrid Tandrevold.

Alimbekava is now just five points behind Öberg in total at the World Cup, and is level with Røiseland. The latter leads the sprint cup.

– I don’t know much about her, to be honest. It was an impressive race and it’s exciting when new ones emerge, says Røiseland, who finished fourth.

Eckhoff: – I’m pretty good.

Eckhoff started as late as No. 88, but she started with a bedtime boom. The 30-year-old had five hits on her feet and although she was 29 seconds behind Alimbekava from the second shot, she rose to second place. At the finish, he was just 8.5 seconds behind and had the fastest cross country time of all.

– I was wondering a bit in Finland, but obviously she is getting in shape. I think it will be difficult to overcome, thinks Lunde.

– I am very pleased. On the last platform, I show that I have something inside me, that I am quite good, Eckhoff tells the SVT reporter in Austria.

The Norwegians had been advised to start late.

– We trust our lubricators, who thought it would eventually be a completely different advantage. We made a completely different choice than the foreigners, and I think it was very good to go now. Maybe that’s why I was the fastest, says Eckhoff.

– Yesterday was very polished, so we thought it was stupid to start early, but today it was not so hot, so I think the conditions were quite uniform, says Røiseland, who finished fourth.

• National team newcomer Ida Lien was the first out of the Norwegians and achieved a horizontal barrier, but delivered the best race of the season, with 12th place. Karoline Knotten was 16th and Tandrevold 19th, while that Emilie Kalkenberg was ranked 55th with two booms.