Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (NOR) won the mass start at the Norwegian Biathlon Season Opener at Sjusjoen, in a field that was worthy of a World Cup.
Bjoerndalen won the mass start in 40 minutes and 6 seconds, had 6.7 seconds down to Birkeland in second place, while fellow Madshus racer Emil Hegle Svendsen was third.
“I had fantastic skis, and it was fun. Its always fun to win,” Bjoerndalen said to Norwegian TV station NRK after the race.
Bjoerndalen is already preselected for the first three World Cups, which opens with the Oestersund (SWE) December 1-7.
“For me, this was an important part of the peaking plan for the World Cup opener. And its always useful to prove that I can ski fast,” Bjoerndalen said matter of factly.
Bjoerndalen missed only once, the first time at the range. He was determined to make that the only one, and stood by it, even if one miss in theory is one too many for the King. But it’s still early in the season, and competition is different from practice, no matter how you slice it.
“It’s harder to shoot well in a competition setting than in a hard workout. I felt that yesterday,” Bjoerndalen said, referring to the ninth place in Saturday’s sprint race.
But with a benchmark and the first race under his belt, Bjoerndalen had a plan for the mass start.
“Today I opened easy and skied conservatively until the last laps, which was my plan from the start. These are some really tough courses, and I was a little concerned that I would blow up half way,” Bjoerndalen explains.
Well, the King didn’t blow up. He won. Let the season begin.
Complete results from the entire weekend