For a long time it looked dark for the Norwegian relay team, but impressive recoveries by Tarjei Bø, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Johannes Thingnes Bø sealed the Norwegian win.

– All credit goes to others. They put on some great stages together and gave a very strong one, Sturla Holm Lægreid told NRK after the relay.

The 25-year-old athlete put in his first brilliant lying series as the first Norwegian out, when he knocked out all five flashes with ease and a near miss.

But his standing shot was just the opposite, almost like a nightmare.

– It’s just a bad standing shot by Lægreid, says NRK biathlon expert Ola Lunde.

Bæringen missed a total of four times, using all of his extra shots, and had to go to penalties. After that, France was ahead 41 seconds.

– It’s too bad. He breathed like nothing in the stands and missed, said TV 2 pundit Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and pointed out that Lægreid should not have taken the lead and gone off track.

Lunde thought the same, and the biathlete himself admitted after the award ceremony that it was probably too expensive.

– I think I went too far ahead. I lack respect for other people on the pitch, you could say. I had second place status in the overall World Cup and thought that I would do all the grunt work.

Acknowledge a problem

On NRK radio broadcasts, there was also speculation as to whether Lægreid had been given a relay complex. He himself admits to having a hard time after missing half of the shots in the Olympic relay in Beijing.

– Something is going on in my head, I can’t hit the target. I felt I did everything right prior to that, that I was walking the course in a controlled manner and had a fairly calm heart rate going into the stands, but something or another happened. It happened to other relays I ran too, Lægreid told NRK.

– Do you feel that you have a relay complex?

– I have a relay complex, of course. After all, I’ve never shot two or three faults in any series other than the relay. It’s something special, it’s something I have to discover, Lægreid said and continued:

– For me, it was smooth sailing until the Olympics and then I had a bad experience. And it left a little scar.

But trainer Siegfried Mazet would not agree with that.

– Today, I don’t think it has anything to do with the Olympics. I don’t think he has a problem with the baton. We decided to be very aggressive today. Maybe he was a little too aggressive on the pitch, and when he got to the stands I could see that he was pulling the trigger with too much force. For me, he was wrong there, in my opinion, Mazet told NRK.

Teammate Johannes Thingnes Bø also doesn’t believe in the complex relay theory:

– Clever Sturla. It’s important to admit your own complexes before the media gets to you. I don’t think deep down he believes he has it, but he lies down and focuses. He’s tactical and I personally don’t think he has a complex for anything.

– gets a little anxious

The biathlon coach admits that he now has to chat with Lægreid about the future. Nevertheless, he wants to put Friday’s total loss behind him. But NRK experts are worried.

– He looks very troubled in the pictures I’ve seen of him. Maybe he played too hard in the second half and should have let the others go a bit. It can also be mental. That he just got a little anxious when he stood on the relay, said Lunde.

– This is a real challenge. First and foremost, he should try to turn things around a bit with a view to the relay in Anterselva. It’s mental work. He should try to keep things simple, daring to start closer to his red flag and pulling away at the first sight of black, says NRK expert.

– Is he a safe first stage runner for Norway in WC?

– Until now, he didn’t. It can go very fast if you manage to think the right thoughts. Now it’s important for him to put it behind him as quickly as possible and take the simple things to make a good standing shot.

Therefore, Lunde will demolish Lægreid for the first stage next weekend in Anterselva, and try it out as number two. But the main character wants to leave.

– I want to do the first leg again to turn things around. I couldn’t give up and was scared at that stage. Instead, you have to face it “face to face” and try and do the right thing, says Lægreid.

Strong pickup

Tarjei Bø switched with Lægreid and Norway then trailed 40 seconds from the lead. With one error, Bø reduced the lead to 17 seconds when he switched with third from Norway Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen.

He was brilliant on the track and with just one extra shot, Norway were suddenly in a close match with Germany when Norwegian news anchor Johannes Thingnes Bø came out for his feet.

He quickly demonstrated why he is the best biathlete in the world, and it didn’t take long before he got a big gap ahead of German Roman Rees. After Thingnes Bø completed his first shot with an extra, Norway led 26.3 seconds ahead of Germany.

– It’s very disrespectful to see Johannes in relation to other people. It was very impressive movement and speed, said Ola Lunde.

On his standing shot, Thingnes Bø had full control, and Norway was able to pull it off ahead of Germany and France.