Boe brothers share podium as Johannes Thingnes takes gold in men's 10km biathlon at the Winter Olympics
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Updated 12/02/2022 at 12:45 GMT
After winning the mixed relay with Norway, Johannes Thingnes Boe took another gold, while his brother, Tarjei, won bronze in the men's individual 10km biathlon event in Beijing. 20km champion Quentin Fillon Maillet has his third Winter Olympics medal after achieving a silver medal in a race which saw just one competitor achieve a perfect 10 on the shooting range.
'Golden day' - Thingnes Boe clinches stunning biathlon gold for Norway
It was an incredible medal-winning day for the Boe family in the men’s 10km biathlon sprint, with Johannes Thingnes Boe taking gold and his brother, Tarjei, coming third to win bronze.
20km champion Quentin Fillon Maillet of France finished second to win silver.
The Boe brothers have doubled up their medal total in Beijing after they were both part of the Norway team to win the mixed relay.
Philipp Nawrath of Germany held an early lead as one of the first athletes to hit the course, but soon Johannes Thingnes Boe, the younger of the two brothers, took control. With just one miss with the rifle, and some rapid skiing, Boe junior set the pace for the field to chase, crossing the line in 24 minutes and 0.4 seconds.
Fillon Maillet was hotly fancied for a medal in the event following his victory in the 20km event earlier in the Games, and secured silver by finished 25 seconds behind Johannes Thingnes Boe. Those two have shared gold and silver between them in all three races in Beijing so far, with Johannes Thingnes Boe beating Fillon Maillet in a sprint to the finish in the mixed relay before settling for silver behind his French rival in the individual 20km race.
Then it was all about the race for bronze. Tarjei Boe took third spot fairly early, leaving a tense wait to see if anyone would leapfrog him onto the podium, and having missed a shot with the rifle during his run, he felt in danger.
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'Very proud, it's a big dream for us' - Thingnes Boe on being on podium with brother
In hindsight he should not have been worried, with just one athlete hitting all 10 targets on the shooting range in the event.
That was Maxim Tsvetkov of the Russian Olympic Committee, who finished in fourth. Tarjei Boe also won gold in the men's relay in Vancouver in 2010, but this was his first individual Olympic medal.
Martin Ponsiluoma of Sweden had backed himself to be in amongst the medals because of his ski speed, but after missing two targets he fell back in the field to end up in sixth place.
It was another Swede, Sebastian Samuelsson, who emerged as the biggest threat to Tarjei Boe’s bronze medal, but after some blistering displays at the end of last year, he was unable to find the ski speed to challenge, and finished fifth to ensure Boe joined his brother on the podium.
Five-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade praised Johannes Thingnes Boe, telling Eurosport, "his competition was simply great”.
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'Simply great' - Biathlon legend Fourcade reacts to Thingnes Boe winning gold
However, he expects his French compatriot Fillon Maillet to be ready to surge ahead of Boe on the leaderboard in Sunday's pursuit race. The results from the sprint carry over to that race, meaning Johannes Thingnes Boe will start 26 seconds ahead of Fillon Maillet.
"It’s not finished. We have the pursuit tomorrow and it will be a great fight between the two best athletes of the season,” he said.
At the end of each race, we have seen competitors collapsing from sheer exhaustion as they cross the line, but Fourcade thinks the athletes are all on the same level so tiredness should not impact the way the pursuit event plays out.
"It’s especially different at the Olympics. The altitude plays a big role in the fatigue. You can see at the finish the athletes are exhausted. They will all be on the same fatigue level for the pursuit”, he said.
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