Boe leads Norway one-two; win for Ekholm
By DPA, IANSSunday, January 9, 2011
OBERHOF - World Cup leader Tarjei Boe led a Norwegian one-two in winning the 15-km biathlon mass start in Oberhof, Germany Sunday.
Boe clocked 39 minutes 51.3 seconds to edge team-mate Emil Hegle Svendsen by 2.4 seconds with Ivan Tcherezov of Russia third, 4-1 seconds behind.
It was a fourth World Cup win this season for Boe and followed Friday’s victory in the 10km sprint. He leads the World Cup standings on 449 points, ahead of Svendsen (394) and fellow Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (304).
Helena Ekholm of Sweden got the better of Andrea Henkel of Germany in a sprint finish to clinch the women’s 12.5km mass start race.
Ekholm was flawless on the shooting range and posted 39:22.9 to edge Henkel, who had two penalty laps, by 1.6 seconds ahead.
Russian Svetlana Steptsova, who also hit all the targets, was third, 5.2 seconds behind Ekholm.
Ekholm (381 points) remains second in the World Cup standings behind Kaisa Makarainen of Finland (425), with Marie Laure Brunet of France improving to 324.
The World Cup moves to Ruhpolding, Germany with a 20km men’s race Wednesday and a 15km women’s race on Thursday.
