TIRIL ECKHOFF WON THE PURSUIT RACE
Tiril Eckhoff of Norway won the 10 km pursuit race, which means that after having won the sprint earlier, she achieved the famous double win. Just like at the World Championships in Pokljuka. The silver from the NMNM race went to Denise Herrmann of Germany, who had been tenth in sprint race, and the bronze went to Marte Olsbu Roiseland of Norway. And results of Czech ladies that started into the race? Lice Charvátová was 15th, Markéta Davidová 17th.
Eckhoff, who has ten victories from World Championships, did not find any challenger among the rest of the starting field: she gradually increased the gap on her competitors, and was more than a minute ahead of the runner-up after three shootings. Thanks to this, the two misses in the last standing shooting were inconsequential. “I was quite calm, and I thought I would be clean and fast in the final shooting. But I missed two times, which is a lot. Luckily for me, this was my only failure in the race today,” the winner said.
Eckhoff has won five (!) of six pursuits this season. “I like to defend my first position. It gives me both energy and confidence.” She is leading the general classification with 80 points ahead of her teammate Roiseland. She has 10 first places in 21 races and 13 podiums.
A pleasant surprise came from Lucie Charvátová who finished fifteenth, which is the best result in her otherwise rather unlucky season. She achieved it despite having missed three times at the last stop in the shooting range. “I do not want to be dissatisfied because of the last shooting – it is my best position this year, anyway, but I need to say that I was surprised with my standing after the three penalty loops. I thought I would not be that high in the end.”
Markéta Davidová raced on sixth position for almost half of the race, but then came the last shooting: three misses! „This was really something, it really was. Several factors might have spoken into my failure. Wind, tiredness, and I did not have a good mindset, either, “ said Markéta Davidová, who aspires for the blue jersey reserved for the best racer under 25 years of age. She is currently second, losing seven points to Dzinara Alimbekava of Belarus.
Author: Tomáš Hermann
Photo: Michal Jilka
