Hofer, a contentious rule & co.: The tops & flops

TOP Tyril Eckhoff: After Tiril Eckhoff missed the overall World Cup in the last race last year in a close fight against Dorothea Wierer, she bounced back impressively this winter. The 30-year-old Norwegian was in a class of her own with her 13 wins this season. This year she was considered unbeatable, especially in sprints (7 wins in a row) and was often able to make a mistake for a win due to her enormous running strength. The 6 World Cup medals on the Pokljuka (4 of which were gold) were the crowning glory. Tiril Eckhoff (left) was in a class of her own, but the Austrian Lisa Hauser was also able to demonstrate. © APA/afp / JOE KLAMAR

Lisa Theresa Hauser: The rise of North Tyrolean Lisa Theresa Hauser this winter was meteoric. The 27-year-old has always been considered a strong shooter, but was never quite able to keep up with the best on the cross-country ski trail. Hauser, who has developed extremely well as a runner, can look back on by far her best season. Having never been on the podium in an individual race before, she was able to climb it 7 times this year (including 2 wins). Especially at the World Championships in Pokljuka, the Austrian won big with one gold and two silver medals. There was also the small crystal ball in singles (together with Dorothea Wierer).

Luke Hofer: It's almost paradoxical: Hofer had to wait almost two years for his next podium finish in an individual race in the World Cup. After the knot finally broke in Nove Mesto almost 2 weeks ago, he followed up with 2 more podium places within 9 days. At the sprint in Östersund, the 2-year-old from Montal also achieved his second World Cup victory. This was the reward for an extremely consistent season with a total of 31 top ten placements and 2th place in the overall World Cup. It was not for nothing that Hofer spoke of the best season of his career.

Sturla Holm Lægreid is the shooting star of the season. © APA/afp / JURE MAKOVEC

The Norwegians around Sturla Holm Lægreid: The now 24-year-old Sturla Holm Lægreid achieved the most dramatic rise in the Norwegian team. Nobody had him on the bill before the season. In the end he fought for the big crystal ball until the last shooting. In addition, the strong shooter, who impressed with his exceptional consistency, won 4 gold medals at the World Cup. Overall, in the men's category, four Norwegians, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Lægreid, Tarjei Bø and Johannes Dale, ended up in the top 4 in the overall World Cup. Their dominance was particularly impressive in the first half of the season. The Norwegians were also strong among the women, and not just in the person of Eckhoff. Marte Olsbu Røiseland (was 5nd in the overall World Cup) and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (celebrated her 2st World Cup victory) are also among the crème de la crème. FLOPS The Azzurri's performance at the World Cup: Overall, the Azzurri have had a season with ups and downs. Lisa Vittozzi and Dominik Windisch, for example, fell somewhat short of their expectations. The low point of the season was the World Cup on Pokljuka. For the first time since 1, Italy was without a medal in a major biathlon event. Precious metal was often within reach in the title fights in Slovenia, but the necessary luck in the competition was also missing. The bottom line is that the dress rehearsal for the 2012 Olympics in Beijing went wrong.

Desolate ghostly scenery: The sport of biathlon has developed into a real crowd puller over the last 10 to 15 years. In a “normal year”, around 65.000 fans from near and far make the pilgrimage to Antholz for the World Cup weekend. All organizers tried to create an artificial atmosphere. But clearly it didn't have the usual feeling. The view of the cross-country ski trails, where large crowds usually gather, also took some getting used to for television viewers.

<a data-caption="Die Veranstalter (wie hier in Antholz) gaben alles, um den Geister-Weltcups Stimmung zu verleihen. Beispielsweise schmückten Papptafeln die leeren Ränge. © Biathlon-OK" data-fancybox="inline-75089" target="_image" href="https://s3-images.sportnews.bz/_images/scale/1280x1280/img/2021/03/die-veranstalter-wie-hier-in-antholz-gaben-alles-um-den-geister-weltcups-stimmung-zu-verleihen-beispielsweise-schmueckten-papptafeln-die-leeren-r.jpg"> The organizers (like here in Antholz) did everything they could to add atmosphere to the Ghost World Cups. For example, cardboard panels decorated the empty stands. © Biathlon OK

Italy's women's relay team: Italy also had a difficult time in the women's relay this year. While the men were at least able to achieve a podium finish, there was no top 3 place for the Azzurre this winter either. Behind Vittozzi (she was mostly convincing in the relays) and Wierer, the Azzurre are missing two other athletes at the top level. However, if you look at the achievements of Rebecca Passler, Linda Zingerle & Co. at the Youth and Junior World Championships in Obertilliach, there could be a lot to come in the next few years.

The cancellation results: This year, four results in the overall World Cup were canceled due to the corona pandemic. Who else can see through this? In principle, deleted results are not a bad thing. With this rule, even athletes who suddenly become ill during the season still have a good chance of winning the overall World Cup. On Sunday, the strange situation arose that Bø wore the yellow jersey in the last race, even though his competitor Lægreid - taking the deleted results into account - was actually one point ahead of him. In the end, Bø won the overall World Cup anyway. Nevertheless, it was a bizarre situation – complete with complicated calculation games. After Eckhoff's victory in the pursuit of Nove Mesto, very few people initially understood that she was now - taking all probabilities into account - as the overall World Cup winner. Just like the fight for the small crystal ball between Wierer and Hauser in February. At first, no one had any idea either. The IBU would need a transparent rule that is understandable to everyone.

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Hofer, a contentious rule & co.: The tops & flops

The 2020/21 Biathlon World Cup has been history since Sunday. SportNews has compiled the tops and flops of the past season.

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