Kaisa Mäkäräinen becomes triple champion, Jaakko Ranna another gold

Contest host Kontiolahti's Athletes' Day at the Shooting Championship Championship ended with a triple victory in the women's series.

Kaisa Mäkäräinen shot two missed shots on the six-kilometer and four-shooting course and beat the runner-up, who also collected two penalty minutes, Nastassia Kinnusen by more than a minute. Rieke de Maeyer secured the Kontiolahti Athletes' triple victory before Joutsa Pomm's Suvi Minkki.

─ It was really nice to participate in the games. I managed to run surprisingly well even today on the third day. For the most part, today's six kilsa were probably the same speed as yesterday's three kilsa. Today there was a little less wind, so it was easier conditions on the bench. Fortunately, it was also visible in the shooting, said Mäkäräinen, who was crowned the weekend's triple champion on Sunday.

Two golds and a silver for the beach

Jaakko Ranta of Tuusula Voima-Veikkoin ran and shot to victory in the men's series on a seven-kilometer track. Burdened by four penalty minutes, he beat Heikki Laitisen of Virtasalmi Athletes, who collected five penalty minutes, by 55 seconds. Matti Hakala of Ahvenisto Biathlon Skiers took third place with four misses.

─ You noticed from the strain that a couple of races are already under way, but the leg still moved well today. The strain was perhaps more visible on the bench, when there were small careless mistakes and one missed it per shot, said Ranta, who also won the sprint yesterday and got silver in the relay on Friday.

The WC is the culmination of the summer season

The shooting championships gathered around 360 athletes from 51 different clubs for the three-day event organized by the Kontiolahti Sportsmen's Association. On message day on Friday, there were almost 80 teams in different series.

─The Finnish shooting championships have traditionally been a major event of the summer, where all enthusiasts of the sport who can nail it gather. Racing for the winter is the best training for race performance. The competition season is fast approaching, and it's about time to start remembering what the actual competition is like, sums up the importance of the biathlon championships, says Finnish Biathlon Union's sport manager Jouni Kinnunen.

The host club of the 2021 WC is Tuusula Voima-Veikot.

Additional information:

• Results are updated on the event page: https://kontiolahtibiathlon.com/kontiolahten-urheilijat/events/ampumahiihto-ja -skiing
• Event arrangements: Kontiolahti Urheilijat Jarno Lautamati 043-2180573
• Photos and interviews on the Facebook page of Kontiolahten Urheilijat ry: https://www .facebook.com/Kontiolahten-Urheilijat-604925202977510/
• Photo:Kaisa Mäkäräinen in Saturday's sprint race. Photo Kontiolahti Biathlon / Kirsi Tolvanen