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Last weekend, the Swedish biathlon masters offered a big boost when they finished second in the relay at Kontiolahti.
Peppe Femling, Jesper Nelin, Martin Ponsiluoma and Sebastian Samuelsson had no chance against Norway. But second place capped a successful weekend for the Swedish men who previously held three places on the podium.
Now the biathlon is in place in Hochfilzen, Austria, where the men’s relay ends another World Cup weekend.
And Sweden assembled exactly the same team as in Kontiolahti.
Peppe Femling had to start the relay with a heavy snowfall and after using just two additional shots in total, he traded Jesper Nelin as sixth, eight seconds away.
– Overall it is very well done by Peppe Femling, says Björn Ferry in the SVT broadcast.
Nelin, who rode hard during the start of the hunt yesterday, quickly reached the distance and once inside the levee he himself was the safe. In the difficult conditions, he only needed one extra shot and was able to send Martin Ponsiluoma as third, behind Germany and Austria.
Ponsiluoma has impressed a lot on the track throughout the season and has an individual podium place since the weekends at Kontiolahti started with a flawless horizontal shot.
Then came the nerves of standing.
After a blocked shot, he was forced to use the three extra shots to lower the point, but managed to escape the penalty round. And it came off the dike together with Norway and Germany.
Chaos in the last shooter
Once in the exchange, it was Norway and Sweden in the battle for first place before the final leg.
Johannes Thingnes Bö and Sebastian Samuelsson were followed up to the horizontal shot. There Samuelsson managed to get everyone without an extra shot, while the Norwegian needed one.
Despite Bö leaving the embankment five seconds behind Samuelsson, the Norwegian was quickly behind again.
Samuelsson was the fastest to shoot, but missed, as did Bö.
The shooters were followed and after a big fuss with Sebastian Samuelsson’s rifle, he managed to score all the points without a penalty round. Bö, for his part, went on to a round of penalties.
– God how messy the last shot was, Sebastian Samuelsson went on forever before he fired that extra shot. What chaos, says Björn Ferry on the SVT broadcast.
– I get stressed the more it goes wrong, but I hear that he (Johannes) goes to the penalty round and then I know that if I put the shot I go out first, says Sebastian Samuelsson in SVT.
Samuelsson got to his feet on the final lap and finished five seconds ahead of Norway.
– Sweden has now been respectful of the World Cup, says Björn Ferry.
READ MORE: The Biathlon World Cup: everything you need to know
