Women’s Individual ended with a celebration for Elvira (left) and Hanna Oeberg. Photo: Esa Kinnunen

05.03.2026

Oebergs’ Celebration in Women’s Individual – Minkkinen 18th in “the nicest Individual of the season”

Kontiolahti Biathlon World Cup

Kontiolahti World Cup started with Women’s Individual, which ended with a celebration for the Swedish Oeberg sisters. Elvira Oeberg cleaned all stages and took the victory by 41.3 seconds ahead of Hanna Oeberg, who missed one shot in the final stage.

The best Finn was Suvi Minkkinen who placed 18th with three penalties. Sonja Leinamo finished 38th, Noora Kaisa Keränen 49th, and Venla Lehtonen 57th.

”This must have been the nicest Individual of the season. The atmosphere at the spectator stands was amazing”, praised Minkkinen. Minkkinen received strong support from the sold-out main stands already during the zeroing.

Minkkinen found both challenging moments and positives from her performance. “The first shots in standing were difficult at both stages. I had to think about how to get them down. Otherwise, it was a sound performance. I’m pretty happy with my physical shape.”

Sonja Leinamo also enjoyed racing in front of the home audience.

“The support was fantastic”, Leinamo expressed her gratitude.

Elvira Oeberg delighted over sisters’ double victory: “I like this place”

Elvira Oeberg scored her career-first victory in the Individual 15km event in the World Cup. Her previous clean shooting was in January 2025, when she won Mass Start in Ruhpolding. For the first time, the Oeberg sisters finished 1st and 2nd. This was naturally a huge moment for today’s winner.

“I like this place. It feels good to be back at low altitude again after the Olympics. Today it felt so simple. Everything came naturally. Skiing feels good, shooting feels good”, Oeberg told biathlonworld.com.

Slovakian Paulina Batowska Fialkova was 3rd with one penalty. This was her first podium of the season.

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Finnish text: Heidi Lehikionen
English text: Hanna Sairanen