Endre Strømsheim won his first World Cup victory. © APA/afp / TOBIAS SCHWARZ

From the IBU Cup to the biathlon throne

The persecution of the gentlemen in Oberhof was unsurpassed in terms of tension. At the end there was a new winning face.

06 January 2024

From: dl

Last year Endre Strømsheim was the outstanding man in the IBU Cup (second racing class). As a result, the Norwegian secured a fixed place for this year's World Cup opener. Since then, the Norwegian has also impressed the “big guys” with consistent performances. After his 3rd place in the Oberhof sprint, Strømsheim went one better on Saturday and left four of his compatriots behind in the Norwegian five-fold victory.

In the last shooting, Strømsheim made two mistakes, but superstar Johannes Thingnes Bø was unable to take advantage of this and even missed three targets. Strømsheim then started the final lap almost at the same time as Sturla Holm Laegreid. There the 26-year-old skilfully overcame the experienced Laegreid and the late bloomer celebrated his first World Cup victory in the cauldron of Oberhof.

Giacomel is catching up

Tommaso Giacomel also showed a strong competition. The Trentino native showed an almost perfect competition. just left the last slice standing. His race to catch up after the sprint (25th place) almost resulted in a top 5 place. On the final lap, however, Giacomel ran out of strength and ended up in 11th place. Didier Bionaz and Lukas Hofer took places 23 and 41.