Johan-Olav Botn claimed his second World Cup win of the season in the Östersund sprint. The Norwegian shot perfectly to win ahead of compatriot Martin Uldal. Sweden's Sebastian Samuelsson finished fifth.
Norwegians dominated the biathlon World Cup sprint in Östersund. Johan-Olav Botn, who had no World Cup starts last season, has now won both his individual races this year. He shot cleanly in Östersund to finish ahead of Martin Uldal, securing a Norwegian one-two.
Botn was ecstatic after the win: "The cork is out, now we're really underway. It's very relieving," he said.
For the Swedish athletes, the day was mixed. Martin Ponsiluoma started strongly with perfect prone shooting and was in contention. But he missed three in standing, ruining his chances. SVT expert Mona Brorsson commented: "It's tough to watch. He's struggling, but you can see he's missing the timing. It's hard, no flow at all. Standing is usually where he feels safest. But it's not working. There's also a lot of pressure attached to it."
Sebastian Samuelsson, who began the season with three straight podiums, finished fifth, 25.1 seconds behind Botn. This placed him outside the podium in his home tracks.