Kontiolahti (Finland) (AFP)
The Norwegian Johannes Boe is still the best placed to win the Biathlon World Cup after his success in the Kontiolahti sprint which allowed him to widen the gap over the French Martin Fourcade, 2nd.
With this 10th victory of the season, Boe is now 37 points behind Fourcade in the general classification but he is virtually in the lead with 19 lengths ahead of the Frenchman, in search of an 8th big crystal globe, since according to the regulations of the International Federation (IBU), it will be necessary to deduct from each biathlete his two worst results at the end of the winter.
The trend is all the more favorable to Boe since the IBU canceled the last stage of the World Cup scheduled for March 20-22 in Oslo due to the coronavirus pandemic. The IBU has not specified whether the races on the program in Norway (sprint, pursuit, mass start) would be relocated or simply eliminated. If the latter option was chosen, the current exercise would end on Sunday at the end of the Kontiolahti (Finland) stage.
An individual event remains scheduled in Finland (pursuit, Saturday) and two relays (mixed and mixed simple).
In the event of definitive cancellation of the three Oslo races, Fourcade will only have the continuation of Saturday to try to catch up with Boe.
Behind Boe and Fourcade, Frenchman Emilien Jacquelin, the revelation of the season and world champion in pursuit in February, won his 7th podium in winter.
© 2020 AFP