8th Biathlon World Cup 2019/20 (Kontiolahti)

Biathlon World Cup 2019/20 (Kontiolahti)
	Men's	Ladies
winner
sprint	Johannes Thingnes Bø	Denise Herrmann
persecution	Martin Fourcade	Julia Simon
Single mixed relay	Competition canceled
Mixed relay	Competition canceled

The 8th Biathlon World Cup of the 2019/20 season took place in Kontiolahti , Finland . The Kontiolahti biathlon stadium , in which the competitions took place, hosted competitions at World Cup level for the last time in the 2017/18 season . This year the competitions were held between March 12th and 15th, 2020.

Competition program

8th World Cup in Kontiolahti

date	Women		Men
Thursday, March 12th, 2020			3:30 p.m.	Sprint (10 km)
Fri, 3/13/20	3:30 p.m.	Sprint (7.5 km)
Sat, 3/14/20	3:45 p.m.	Pursuit (10 km)	1:45 p.m.	Pursuit (12.5 km)
Sun, 3/15/20	1:20 pm	Single-mixed relay (2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km)
	3:15 p.m.	Mixed relay (4 × 7.5 km)

Participating Nations

Belgium  Bulgaria  Germany  Estonia  Finland  France  Greece  Italy  Japan  Canada  Kazakhstan

Croatia  Latvia  Lithuania  Norway  Austria  Poland  Romania  Russia  Sweden  Switzerland

Serbia  Slovakia  Slovenia  South Korea  Czech Republic  Ukraine  United Kingdom ( United States ) 1   People's Republic of China  Belarus

¹The three American athletes were on the list of participants for the men's sprint. However, the whole team were previously journey home after the US government as part of the COVID-19 pandemic had issued that from 14 March 2020, the entry of people who are in the last 14 days in the Schengen area had stopped , is prohibited.

Starting position

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the Americans withdrew their athletes before the first start and flew back to the USA. The team from Austria also started their journey home early, "in order to implement the measures of the Austrian Federal Government ", as ÖSV President Peter Schröcksnadel announced.

The competitions in Kontiolahti were originally intended for spectators and not "ghost races" as in the previous week in Nové Město. However, shortly before the men's sprint, which marked the beginning of the World Cup weekend, it became known that the competitions should now take place in camera. At this point in time, spectators were already on their way towards the Kontiolahti biathlon stadium , but due to the arrangement they had to turn around and start their way home.

In addition, it was announced in the run-up to the competitions that these would be the last of the season, as the last World Cup in Oslo had already been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that the decisions in the overall World Cup and in the discipline rankings would already be made in Kontiolahti.

Results

8th World Cup in Kontiolahti , March 12th to March 15th, 2020
date	discipline	First place	Second place	third place
March 12, 2020 (Thu.)	Sprint (10 km)	Johannes Thingnes Bø	Martin Fourcade	Émilien Jacquelin
March 13, 2020 (Fri)	Sprint (7.5 km)	Denise Herrmann	Franziska Preuss	Tiril Eckhoff
March 14, 2020 (Sat.)	Pursuit (12.5 km)	Martin Fourcade	Quentin Fillon Maillet	Émilien Jacquelin
March 14, 2020 (Sat.)	Pursuit (10 km)	Julia Simon	Selina Gasparin	Lisa Vittozzi
March 15, 2020 (Sun.)	Single mixed relay (2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km)	Due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceled .
March 15, 2020 (Sun.)	Mixed relay (4 × 7.5 km)

Men

Women

Mixed

course

sprint

Men

Start: Thursday, March 12, 2020, 3:30 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Johannes Thingnes Bø	22: 27.8	0 + 0
2	Martin Fourcade	+21.1	0 + 0
3	Émilien Jacquelin	+22.3	0 + 0
4th	Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen	+30.6	0 + 0
5	Tarjei Bø	+34.0	0 + 0
6th	Benedikt Doll	+34.1	0 + 1
7th	Quentin Fillon Maillet	+39.7	0 + 0
8th	Simon Desthieux	+40.8	0 + 0
9	Arnd Peiffer	+48.4	0 + 0
10	Sturla Holm Lægreid	+51.9	0 + 0

Registered: 104 athletes, not at the start: 4, disqualified: 1

Once again Johannes Thingnes Bø won a race. The Norwegian won four of the eight sprint races. After an error-free shooting performance and the fastest mileage of all participants, the Norwegian was around 20 seconds ahead of the French Martin Fourcade and Émilien Jacquelin, who followed in second and third place. The only athlete who made a mistake and still managed to get into the top 10 was Benedikt Doll. He left a target in standing shooting, but the athletes' third-best running time enabled him to achieve this result. Struma Holm Lægreid was able to achieve a place in the top ten for the first time in his career thanks to his 10th place and that was only his third appearance at World Cup level. Even the best Austrian Felix Leitner (13th) remained flawless at the shooting range. On the other hand, Lukas Hofer (2 mistakes / 24th) as the best Italian and Jeremy Finello (1 mistake / 37th) as the best Swiss both had to accept mistakes.

Women

Start: Friday, March 13th, 2020, 3:30 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Denise Herrmann	20: 00.5	0 + 1
2	Franziska Preuss	+20.1	1 + 0
3	Tiril Eckhoff	+32.3	1 + 1
4th	Lisa Vittozzi	+37.1	0 + 1
5	Markéta Davidová	+42.5	0 + 1
6th	Monika Hojnisz-Staręga	+47.3	0 + 0
7th	Larissa Kuklina	+47.9	0 + 0
8th	Chloé Chevalier	+51.5	1 + 0
9	Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold	+52.6	1 + 0
10	Selina Gasparin	+55.2	1 + 1

Registered: 97 athletes, not at the start: 2

As in the sprint last week in Nové Město, Denise Herrmann was able to win again. In both Kontiolahti and Nové Město, she started with a very low starting number and was the very first to cross the finish line. As a result, Herrmann had to wait a long time for the results of the other athletes, but none of them could achieve Herrmann's record. The closest to her time came with Franziska Preuß, who came second and thus ensured a German double victory. Tiril Eckhoff crossed the finish line in third place . Before the last race of the season, the Norwegian caught up with further points on overall World Cup leader Dorothea Wierer, who was only 19th. Christina Rieder achieved the best result of an Austrian with the 34th place.

persecution

Men

Start: Saturday, March 14, 2020, 1:45 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Martin Fourcade	31: 25.4	0 + 0 + 1 + 2
2	Quentin Fillon Maillet	+2.9	1 + 0 + 0 + 1
3	Émilien Jacquelin	+4.5	0 + 0 + 1 + 3
4th	Johannes Thingnes Bø	+8.3	0 + 1 + 3 + 0
5	Arnd Peiffer	+14.1	0 + 0 + 1 + 2
6th	Erlend Bjøntegaard	+15.6	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
7th	Alexander Loginov	+24.0	1 + 0 + 1 + 0
8th	Martin Ponsiluoma	+29.8	1 + 0 + 0 + 1
9	Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen	+36.5	0 + 3 + 0 + 0
10	Lukas Hofer	+42.0	0 + 1 + 1 + 1

Registered: 60 athletes, not starting: 5, not finishing: 1

Martin Fourcade, the seven-time overall World Cup winner, announced the evening before that he would end his active career. Exactly 10 years ago to the day, on March 14, 2010, Fourcade won his very first World Cup race. At that time, too, there was persecution in Kontiolahti. So with his victory a circle is closed. The Frenchman, who won the overall World Cup seven times, won Olympic gold five times and had previously won a total of 78 World Cup races, also managed to win the last time he started his career, so that he was able to achieve 79 victories in his career. Alongside Fourcade, his two compatriots Quentin Fillon Maillet and Émilien Jacquelin landed on the podium. The latter was able to secure the small crystal ball in the pursuit by taking third place. Johannes Thingnes Bø's fourth place was enough to overtake Martin Fourcade in the overall World Cup in the last race of the season and to win it. Arnd Peiffer was also happy about fifth place at the end of the season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the team from Austria was already on the way home. Martin Jäger was the only Swiss to cross the finish line in 42nd place.

Women

Start: Saturday, March 14, 2020, 3:45 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Julia Simon	30: 43.5	0 + 1 + 1 + 0
2	Selina Gasparin	+17.3	1 + 2 + 1 + 0
3	Lisa Vittozzi	+20.9	1 + 1 + 1 + 1
4th	Kaisa Mäkäräinen	+28.2	1 + 1 + 2 + 0
5	Monika Hojnisz-Staręga	+39.8	1 + 0 + 0 + 1
6th	Mona Brorsson	+42.8	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
7th	Johanna Skottheim	+44.4	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
8th	Markéta Davidová	+50.8	1 + 0 + 3 + 1
9	Franziska Preuss	+56.7	0 + 4 + 1 + 0
10	Tiril Eckhoff	+57.2	2 + 1 + 0 + 3

Registered: 60 athletes, not at the start: 6

The last race of the season for women was won by an athlete from France, after a Frenchman had previously won the men’s race in Martin Fourcade. While it was the last success of his career for Fourcade, Julia Simon won a world cup race for the first time. Selina Gasparin followed in second place, who was on the podium for the first time this season. For Lisa Vittozzi it was the second podium of the season. With Kaisa Mäkäräinen also ended her career with women. She also won the overall World Cup and numerous races several times. At the end of her career, the 37-year-old improved from 18th place to 4th place in her home country Finland, but without a spectator. Sprint winner Denise Herrmann made eight mistakes and fell back to 16th place. The Austrians, like their male compatriots, did not start because they had made their way home in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic .

Single mixed relay & mixed relay

At the end of the competitions in Kontiolahti, it was originally planned to have a single-mixed relay and a mixed relay. However, the IBU canceled the competitions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to enable the athletes to travel home in an orderly manner. Thus, the pursuit races were the last of the season, as the entire World Cup in Oslo was canceled.

Effects

To the overall World Cup

In the fight for the overall World Cup, a close duel developed up to the last race. In the end, Martin Fourcade was ahead of his pursuer from Norway with 54 points. However, due to deletion results , Fourcade 56 points were deducted, so that he fell behind Bø. However, this one did not have any deleted results, as he had already stopped for four races in January due to his "baby break".

For women, too, the overall World Cup was only decided in the last race. Dorothea Wierer and her pursuer Tiril Eckhoff fought a close virtual duel for the overall World Cup victory, in which Eckhoff was even ahead at times. But in the last shooting, the Norwegian missed three times, so that she went to the final round with Wierer. Although she crossed the finish line behind Eckhoff, Wierer was able to defend her point lead, even after the cancellation results had been deducted, and thus secure the large crystal ball for the second time in a row.

Overall World Cup men	Overall World Cup women
Top 10 after 21 of 21 races	Top 10 after 21 of 21 races
rank Surname Points Victories Verän- alteration 1  Johannes Thingnes Bø 913 10 2  Martin Fourcade 911 7th 3  Quentin Fillon Maillet 843 1 4th  Tarjei Bø 740 5  Émilien Jacquelin 726 1 6th  Simon Desthieux 672 7th  Alexander Loginov 629 1 8th  Benedikt Doll 613 1 9  Johannes Dale 576 10  Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen 566	rank Surname Points Victories Verän- alteration 1  Dorothea Wierer 793 4th 2  Tiril Eckhoff 786 7th 3  Denise Herrmann 745 3 4th  Hanna Öberg 741 1 5  Marte Olsbu Røiseland 597 3 6th  Franziska Preuss 573 7th  Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold 554 8th  Julia Simon 551 1 9  Justine Braisaz 547 1 10  Lisa Vittozzi 528

On the discipline scores

Since the Kontiolahti races were the last of the season, it was decided who would win the small crystal balls in the discipline rankings. In the sprint standings, Martin Fourcade and Denise Herrmann prevailed, both winning two of the eight sprint races. In the Pursuit World Cup, Émilien Jacquelin (also world champion in this discipline) was able to win a discipline ranking for the first time in his career. It was also the first win of a small crystal ball for Tiril Eckhoff, who was the most successful pursuer this season.

Debutants

The following athletes took part in a biathlon world cup for the first time. This can be both individual races and relay races.

Men	Women
	Stefanie Scherer

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biathlon: ÖSV team breaks off season in Kontiolahti. March 13, 2020, accessed March 31, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Biathletes look forward to Kontiolahti - with or without a spectator. March 10, 2020, accessed March 31, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Biathlon World Cup in Kontiolahti: Johannes Thingnes Bö again unbeatable in the sprint. March 12, 2020, accessed March 31, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Sport1.de: Biathlon: World Cup final in Oslo is canceled due to corona virus. Accessed March 31, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Final Results Men 10 km sprint. (PDF) IBU, March 12, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Final Results Women 7.5 km sprint. (PDF) IBU, March 13, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Final Results Men 12.5 km Pursuit. (PDF) IBU, March 14, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Martin Fourcade finished his career. March 13, 2020, accessed March 14, 2020 . 
9. ^ Chapeau Fourcade - the French say goodbye with a victory. March 14, 2020, accessed March 21, 2020 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b} Sanny Stephan: German double victory in the biathlon sprint from Kontiolahti. In: tagesschau.de. March 13, 2020, accessed March 21, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Final Results Women 10 km Pursuit. (PDF) IBU, March 14, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Biathlon: Single mixed relay and mixed relay in Kontiolahti canceled. Sport1.de, March 13, 2020, accessed on March 21, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Men's World Cup Total Score Final Result. (PDF) IBU, March 14, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Women's World Cup Total Score Final Result. (PDF) IBU, March 14, 2020, accessed on March 31, 2020 .