BIATHLON Preview: Can anyone beat Norway’s Boe?

Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe (Photo: IBU)

The fourth of nine stops on the 2018-19 IBU World Cup circuit is in Oberhof (GER), with competitions scheduled for Thursday through Sunday:

10 January: Women’s 7.5 km Sprint
11 January: Men’s 10 km Sprint
12 January: Women’s 10 km Pursuit and Men’s 12.5 km Pursuit
13 January: Women’s 4×6 km Relay and Men’s 4 x 7.5 km Relay

The question in the men’s events is: can anyone beat Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe?

In the eight races held this season, Boe has won six and defending World Cup champ Martin Fourcade (FRA) has won two. Boe has won three in a row and has triumphed in three Sprints, two Pursuits and one Mass Start race. Fourcade has won an Individual race and a Pursuit.

In terms of the World Cup standings, Boe leads, but not by as much as you would think, since only eight of 26 total races have been completed:

1. 428 Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR) ~ six wins in the World Cup so far
2. 312 Alexandr Loginov (RUS) ~ two silvers, two bronzes
3. 266 Simon Eder (AUT) ~ one bronze
4. 266 Simon Desthieux (FRA)
5. 263 Martin Fourcade (FRA) ~ two wins, one silver

The women’s situation is much less clear, with five different winners in the eight races so far and the top five fairly close together:

1. 381 Dorothea Wierer (ITA) ~ one win, three silvers, one bronze
2. 345 Paulina Fialkova (SLO) ~ two silvers, two bronzes
3. 276 Lisa Vottozzi (ITA)
4. 268 Kaisa Makarainen (FIN) ~ three wins, one silver
5. 242 Monika Hojnisz (POL) ~ one silver

Defending World Cup champ Makarainen, Weirer and Marte Olsbu Roiseland (NOR) have all won Sprint races; Makarainen has won two Pursuits and Roiseland the other.

Look for results here.