Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø successfully defended his world title in the men’s 20km individual biathlon race. He finished 58.9 seconds ahead of his brother Tarjei. German Benedikt Doll won the bronze medal, finishing 1 minute and 53.3 seconds behind the winner. All three medalists made one mistake at the shooting range.
Twenty-four-year-old Michal Mikyska, who returned to the World Cup in January after a knee injury, was aiming for an even better result. He made his last mistake on the 20th shot, taking a risk and shooting quickly at the final position.
Even a tenth-place finish is a career achievement for Mikyska, who finished fourteenth in the same discipline at last year’s World Championships. He also finished in the same position in the mass start race at the championship in Oberhof a year ago, and he is expected to qualify for it again this time.
Current leader of the Czech men’s team, Michal Krčmář, received three penalty minutes and finished in 26th place. He missed the first shot on both positions. On the final standing position, where he also made one mistake, he had problems handling his weapon, which cost him an additional 50 seconds. In the end, he lost more than five and a half minutes to the winner.
Vítězslav Hornig confirmed his reputation as an excellent shooter when he made only one mistake during his debut at this world championship. However, due to back pain, he finished in 46th place. Jakub Štvrtecký had two clean rounds halfway through the race but then made one mistake while standing and three mistakes in total, finishing in 63rd place.
None of the top biathletes in the World Cup shot clean. Despite one penalty minute, J.T. Bø, who won the pursuit race, convincingly took home the gold medal. He was accompanied on the podium by his older brother, but the Norwegians were far from completing a clean sweep. Doll won the bronze medal, his first individual medal at the World Championships since his sprint title in Hochfilzen in 2017. He had a nearly one-minute lead over fourth-placed Andrejs Rastorgujevs from Latvia.
The Biathlon World Championships will continue in Nové Město na Moravě with the mixed relay on Thursday at 6:00 pm.
Men’s 20km Individual Race Results:
1. J.T. Bø – 45:49.0 min (1 penalty minute)
2. T. Bø – 58.9 sec (1)
3. Doll – 1:53.3 min (1)
4. Rastorgujevs – 2:50.2 min (2)
5. Jacquelin – 3:03.2 min (1)
6. Fillon Maillet – 3:16.2 min (3)
…
10. Mikyska – 4:14.9 min (1)
26. Krčmář – 5:47.6 min (3)
46. Hornig – 7:17.5 min (1)
63. Štvrtecký – 8:37.3 min (4)
