[ad_1]
Yesterday, Stina Nilsson made her competitive debut as a biathlete. At the Swedish premiere in Idre, the 27-year-old finished eleventh in the sprint.
Nilsson had two arms in the horizontal shot and one arm in the vertical.
The sprint was won by Hanna Öberg against Johanna Skottheim and the Czech Marketa Davidova.
Stina Nilsson was pleased with her debut and eleventh place.
– It is clear that he wanted to shoot zero-zero, but had never done it before, not even in a practice competition, said Nilsson after the race.
“A whole new moment”
Most people, including Nilsson himself, have agreed that shooting will be the big challenge for Stina Nilsson with the shift from cross-country skiing to biathlon.
– It’s a whole new time for her and it takes time to learn, former biathlon star Helena Ekholm previously told SportExpressen.
On the other hand, Ekholm and several other experts have agreed that Stina Nilsson, who has won several Olympic and World Cup medals as a cross-country skier, will be able to rely on her skill and experience as a skier.
However, during her debut biathlon run, Stina Nilsson had only the fourth fastest run, based on SVT times.
The fastest of all on the track was third Marketa Davidova in time 21.13. The second fastest was Hanna Öberg, 14 seconds slower than Davidova. Elvira Öberg had the third fastest time in the sprint, 19 seconds behind.
Stina Nilsson was four seconds slower than Elvira Öberg with a travel time of 21.36.
– It seems like the general picture has been that Stina would dominate and be clearly faster and if she can hit a few shots she wins. But I don’t think there is such a big difference between length and biathlon, says former biathlete Björn Ferry, now an SVT expert.
Ferry also believes that the near future will give a clearer picture of how Stina Nilsson is doing on the trip.
– We will see if this is normal, if it is then the road is much longer for her to become a biathlon superstar.
Today, the Swedish premiere in Idre continues with a short distance for men and women.
The Swedish premiere today
Men’s short distance 15 km, 09.20
Ladies short distance 12.5 km, 11.30
READ MORE: The Biathlon World Cup: everything you need to know
