Overwhelming Sweden Takes Relay Victory, Elvira Oeberg Enjoys Her Time in Kontiolahti

The winning team consisted of Linn Gestblom, Anna Magnusson, Hanna Oeberg, and Elvira Oeberg. France finished second, 40.6 seconds behind, and secured the Relay World Cup title. Norway finished third, while Finland placed ninth.

Sweden took control of the relay on the opening leg, following Gestblom’s successful standing stage. The team, claiming their second relay win of the World Cup season, used a total of four spare rounds. France claimed the Relay World Cup victory

Elvira Oeberg delivered a splendid performance in Kontiolahti.

“The track suits me really well. It feels like home here, even though we’re quite far from Oestersund. I’m in a good mood here—I like it here,” Oeberg said enthusiastically to biathlonworld.com.

She also praised her sister’s shooting performance, calling it impressive, though she found room for improvement in her own effort.

“I lost a bit of focus on my last two shots. I’m happy with my skiing—we had amazing skis.”

Finland Finds Positives Though Some Regrets Remain

The Finnish team used 13 spare rounds and finished ninth. The lineup was Inka Hamalainen, Sonja Leinamo, Venla Lehtonen, and Suvi Minkkinen.

“I did quite well. I’m happy with the prone—it went surprisingly well. Overall, there’s room for improvement for next season; we didn’t quite give our best”, Hamalainen reflected.

“Today was a strong day on the track. On the range, I used all my spares but at least didn’t end up on the penalty loop. That was positive. It’s a bit frustrating that it took so long, but that’s biathlon—sometimes it goes like that,” Leinamo said.

“That was a pretty steady performance. On the track I can’t do what I’m aiming for yet, but it was a bit better again. A solid effort from our team,” Lehtonen said.

“I’m annoyed that I couldn’t quite beat Austria on the final stretch, but I did fairly well. Looking at the numbers, it was a pretty lively performance,” Minkkinen said.

Sunday was special for all women, as the race organizers gave every female athlete a rose at the finish to celebrate International Women’s Day.

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Original text: Heidi Lehikoinen
English text: Hanna Sairanen