Johannes Bö celebrated the victory of the men's sprint race - the Finns were saddened by the race without an audience

Johannes Thingnes Bö celebrated the victory in the men's sprint ahead of Frenchmen Martin Fourcade and Emilien Jacquelin. The entire top three cleared both shooting positions without missing shots. The difference between Bö and Fourcade was 21.1 seconds.

- My skis were also very good today, Bö summed up his successful competition with a big smile.

In order to prevent the spread of the corona virus, the competition was held in Kontiolahti without an audience, which makes the events different for the athletes. On Thursday, it was also confirmed that the World Cup in Oslo has been cancelled. The situation naturally upsets the Norwegian.

- It's a bit sad, but this is how it will be, Bö said.

Tero Seppälä did the best of the Finns, who shot zeroes from the prone position and two missed shots from the upright. This time it brought the 43rd place.

– Got a bit stuck in my teeth. The beginning was quite good, but after that it started to weigh down. I suffered on the bench for the stupid mistake of taking the last shot. One fine would have lasted, Seppälä said.

Like others, he had closely followed the development of situations.

- Last week went smoothly when we were on a trip. Now relatives and friends would have been coming here, Seppälä regretted.

Jaakko Ranta, on the other hand, felt that he had done his best race of the season at World Cup level, which made him happy. It brought 78th place by one miss.

- Yes, the focus was on the race of the day, let others make the decisions. It's a shame that the audience was chased away, Ranta said.

Olli Hiidensalo, who finished in 93rd place, regretted his skis, but felt that his skiing was "even thick". He described his prone shooting as good but slow, and he thought that "maybe he was a little careless" in standing.

- In Takakurv you could enjoy the encouragement a little, but it's different without the audience, Hiidensalo described a new kind of experience.

 
Cover image (Johannes Bö): Katariina Kamppuri