Wierer turned the opening contest in favor with a zero shooting, Eder 32:s

In the women's 15 km normal distance, there was a tougher battle for victory, where Italy's Dorothea Wierer's fast zero shooting was of great value. Wierer won by 0.8 seconds over Germany's Denise Herrmann, who received a one-minute penalty from the first shooting position. Sweden's Johanna Skottheim survived like Wierer without missing shots and was third.

Wierer was naturally relieved after turning the tight competition in his favor, although the skiing started to weigh towards the end of the competition.

- I am happy that I shot zeros in four places. I knew it was important today. In skiing, I think I need competitions to get in shape. The last round was really difficult. I heard that Denise is getting closer and closer. The race was really tight, Wierer said happily.

The Swedes have a great team effort

Wierer and Herrmann are familiar sights on the podium, but Skottheim reached the top three for the first time in his career in the World Cup. Skottheim got more great memories from Kontiolahti, as he finished seventh in last season's final.

– I am really happy about today. We have a really good spirit from the Swedish national team. I really like our team. We each try to lift each other up, Skottheim praised.

The Swedes' team contribution was huge, as four Swedes were among the top seven and the fifth best Swede was also 11th. Among the Finnish women, Mari Eder, who was 32nd, did the best. Eder's ranking was weighed down by three penalty minutes, two of which came from last place. There was a lot of good in Eder's performance.

- Physically, it was probably quite a balanced start. I still haven't found the last lap, but I was able to get through the race with a balanced attitude. You can be quite satisfied with the situation. In terms of shooting, the tastes were good in terms of results, but very different in terms of performance. The first was a good performance, the second a slightly weaker technical performance, Eder said.

Suvi Minkkinen was the second best Finn with 69. He cleared the first shooting position without missing shots, but the other three positions resulted in a total of four penalty minutes.

– No disaster happened at any point. Normitak is harsh because if you perform well, you are in good places, but even an OK bet throws you pretty far. Today's performance was at an ok level, but the result is not pleasing. A little bit left in the tooth cavity for tomorrow, Minkkinen said.

See all results: https://biathlonresults.com/

Photo: Manzoni/IBU