“Most shameful ceremony”
“Scapegoat” spoils World Cup dominators’ triumph
February 18, 2024, 9:24 a.m
Eight out of nine podium places in individual competitions – the Norwegians are the big favorites for the relay triumph at the Biathlon World Cup. But then the last runner’s nerves fail. He is completely shocked at himself.
The final shooting of the men’s 4×7.5 kilometer relay at the Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto has become a nightmare for Norway’s final runner Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen. After the 31-year-old blacked out completely, his team’s gold medal, which was believed to be certain, was gone.
With a lead of more than a minute, final runner Christiansen came to the last shooting. But there the 31-year-old’s nerves gave out. He had to complete a whopping three penalty laps shortly before the end of the race – and thus gave the competition an unexpected chance for the title.
Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson took advantage of the misfire, hit all of his shots on target and took the win. Norway, whose athletes achieved eight out of nine possible podium places in the individual competitions, had to be content with silver. The quartet from France won bronze, while the German team with Justus Strelow, Johannes Kühn, Philipp Nawrath and Benedikt Doll only had a place next to the podium with fourth place.
After the debacle, Christiansen told Norwegian television TV2: “I’m taking on the role of the scapegoat.” He added: “Sometimes we become heroes, sometimes we become sinners. That’s the appeal of top-class sport. Today it was my turn.”
The Norwegian tried to find explanations for his fiasco. “I felt incredibly fit today,” he emphasized. As a result, he ran faster than he actually should. At the shooting range he held his breath for too long. “There was a certain oxygen deficit,” Christiansen said. “There was no going back when I started shaking.”
“Only gold was good enough”
His teammates were visibly and audibly dissatisfied, but didn’t want to blame their teammate: “Anything can happen in this sport. But it’s terrible when we’re so far ahead,” said Johannes Thingnes Bö on TV2. The dominator missed the 20th World Cup gold of his career due to Christiansen’s mistake – otherwise he would have caught up with compatriot and record world champion Ole Eine Björndalen. This success could still be his in the mass start (16.30/ZDF and Eurosport) succeed.
Bös’s brother Tarjei said: “We are of course disappointed, only gold was good enough.” Christiansen didn’t see it quite that way, according to “VG”, but: “It’s the most shameful medal ceremony I’ve ever taken part in. Silver is basically good, but it has an extreme aftertaste, I have to admit that.”
Sturla Holm Laegreid emphasized: “We were the favorites and therefore make no secret of the fact that gold was the goal today. I was dissatisfied with my performance myself. There were two athletes who delivered what they were supposed to and two who performed below average delivered.”
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The Christiansen joke caused the local TV experts to shake their heads. “I’m a little shocked about what happened. It was a collapse that none of us had expected. That was simply shocking,” said cross-country skiing legend Petter Northug. Björndalen commented: “This is the wildest thing I’ve ever experienced.”