World Cup Kickoff, Biathlon, Ă–stersund (SWE)
Magdalena Neuner (GER)
In Ă–stersund, Sweden, the first races of the new season have started in rather poor weather conditions.
The men opened the season with their traditional individual competition. It soon was clear that last year’s top athletes will keep on playing a leading role this year. The Frenchman Fourcade showed a strong performance shooting and running and took home a victory. The somewhat disappointed Norwegians Boe, Svendsen and Björndalen demonstrated their very good form two days later in the sprint competition, reaching 2nd, 3rd and 4th place respectively. Surprisingly, the victory went to the Swede Carl Johan Bergman. Martin Fourcade/FRA won the pursuit race on Sunday, sending Jaroslav Soukup/CZ and Emil Helge Svendsen to 2nd and 3rd place.
The women’s season started one day after the men’s. Here as well, the best of last season proved their supremacy. Darya Domracheva/BLR triumphed over the local Anna Maria Nielson. Very satisfying was also the season’s debut of our TOKO athlete Magdalena Neuner: She reached third place in the individual race and two days later won the very exciting sprint race, reaching the finishing line 0.2 sec before Tora Berger. The podium was stirred nicely on Sunday after the pursuit race, with Tora Berger/NOR crossing the red finishing line before Kaisa Mäkäräinen/FIN and Lena Neuner/GER.
This season promises to be full of suspense. Even if the first races did not produce any great surprise effects, TOKO has some good news. Additionally to our well-known TOKO athletes, we look forward to welcoming the NEW members. Christoph Sumann/AUT and Tim Burke/USA strengthen and trust the TOKO racing service. We congratulate all teams and thank you for your trust in our TOKO products.
