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It was a long-awaited success for the Swedish men’s team who failed to achieve a single podium spot last season.
Now both Sebastian Samuelsson and Martin Ponsiluoma took the podium alongside the great Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø.
In Saturday’s distance race, Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma proved that they are difficult to beat on the track.
In the sprint, they continued to impress.
– Of course you are a little tired of the legs but it is the same for everyone. Now it was half the distance and he was at full speed from the start, Samuelsson says.
The weekend gave a second and sixth place to the 23-year-old from Katrineholm.
– Now I have two very good results on my back and I can relax a little more and try to enjoy that I am in good shape.
He does not want to pull too much of the gears of the first weekend of the World Cup.
– I am sure that the French and Norwegians will wake up more and more to life.
Thursday continues the sprint world championship, Saturday is the start of the hunt and the relay awaits on Sunday.
– The relay feels very exciting considering that we show such good form. Fighting Norway is always special.
Samuelsson likes that the competition continues at the Finnish Kontiolax.
– It’s good not to have to pack, now we have some peace and quiet and it’s good from a health point of view.
Samuelsson took second place just before Martin Ponsiluma, there was only a four second difference between the Swedes.
– I’m glad I managed to keep him behind me and it was fun to be able to share the podium with him.
Samuelsson already has only one place on the individual podium at the World Cup when he was third in a sprint at Oberhof nearly two years ago.
Martin Ponsiluoma showed again He made it to the top to stop and was hooked in third place.
– It was a lot of fun to show what you represent, says Ponsiluoma to DN.
It’s been two years since he got his only podium position, third in the Nove Mesto sprint.
– I haven’t thought about it much, but I feel stronger over time Last season, the filming was not correct. But now both the filming and the driving work, so I feel even more pressure on me and it feels really fun.
It is especially in the horizontal shot where Ponsiluoma has improved.
– I had a boring start in the distance race and was hungry for revenge, explains Ponsiluoma after Sunday’s third place in the sprint.
Johannes Thingnes Bø was second in Saturday’s distance race, but quickly recovered as the clear winner, the margin for Samuelsson being a full 44 seconds.
– It’s difficult when you shoot squarely. But we show that we are not left behind and one day we will pinch the best locations, says Samuelsson hopefully.
