– I don’t really understand anything. Suddenly I saw him there. I probably should have looked up during the last round. I myself was tired and didn’t understand anything when I crossed the finish line first and no one got there before me, said Thingnes Bø.

Because in the final round, Johannes Thingnes Bø brought in Quentin Fillon Maillet. That was despite the fact that he started two and a half minutes behind his rival.

The Frenchman won last year’s World Cup overall and took Olympic gold over the normal distance.

– It really was a fantastic day on the trail. I have very good skis, says Thingnes Bø.

Another person brought in by Thingnes Bø was the German Roman Rees. Starting number two, he started four and a half minutes ahead of the Norwegian.

– I wasn’t having my best day today, and noticed that Fillon Maillet was starting to close behind me. He started two minutes after me. Then I thought I was going really slow. But ten seconds later someone tried to take me to the side of the track, and it was number 11, Johannes. I don’t remember someone starting number 11 crossing the finish line first, he said impressed.

Thingnes Bø has the best cross-country time of those who have completed it. The second fastest was Switzerland’s Jeremy Finelo, trailing by 1.46.4 seconds.

While on weekends there was the fog that characterizes the World Cup city of Oberhof, Tuesday was especially sunny. Thingnes Bø himself characterizes it as the type of relationship he is best suited for.

With 18 of 20 strokes, she took gold in incredible style, 1.10.7 ahead of silver winner Sturla Holm Lægreid. Swede Sebastian Samuelsson was another four-tenths behind.

Historic winning streak

After placing twelfth in the World Cup opener at Kontiolahti, Thingnes Bø won the next five races in the World Cup. 2022 ended with two third places at Le Grand-Bornand, but in 2023 the Norwegian is undefeated.

Two wins in Pokljuka, two wins in Ruhpolding and two wins in Anterselva were followed by three consecutive WC gold medals during the WC in Oberhof.

As such, Thingnes Bø has won nine consecutive individual races at the top level, something no biathlete has ever done before.

Swede Magdalena Forsberg won eight races in a row in the 2000/01 season, while Ole Einar Bjørndalen won the last three races of the 2005/06 season and then the first five in the 2006/07 season.

But nothing works nine times in a row.

– Nine in a row, that’s impossible. But that tells quite a bit about what mode I’m in, says Thinnes Bø.

– An ordinary day at work?

– Yes, actually, he said.

Vetle teammate Sjåstad Christiansen said that winning was the norm for Thingnes Bø.

– Now we are almost in March and so far he has done nothing but win in 2023. Then it will be a pretty normal feeling, he said.

Tarjei Bø: – I don’t understand what we have to do

Swede Martin Ponsiluoma had the third-best cross-country time in Tuesday’s race, 1.53.7 behind Thingnes Bø.

– This is really crazy. He went really fast out there. He is truly in a class of his own, Ponsiluoma told NRK.

Niklas Hartweg finished sixth and admired the gold medalist a lot.

– He has shown how strong he is in the past few days. All season he was strong, but today I think he is in a league of his own, said the Swiss.

– We don’t understand what to do to catch up with him, says the older brother Tarjei Bø.

Can write championship history

At the Olympics in Beijing last year, Johannes Thingnes Bø won two individual gold medals in WC or Olympics for the first time in his career. In this year’s WC in Oberhof with gold in the sprint, hot pursuit start and normal distance.

Thus, Thingnes Bø now has the opportunity to become the first to win four individual gold medals in the same event. Previously, there were nine times in the WC and the Olympics where a runner won three of the four individual gold medals, while Ole Einar Bjørndalen won three of the three possible individual races at the 2002 Olympics.

Thingnes Bø could now become the first to win four individual gold medals in the same WC. Then he also has to win a joint start on Sunday.

Roman Rees believes he will be able to do that.

– If you win a normal distance with two hurdles, it will be difficult to beat it on a co-start. Lægreid was again number two today, perhaps the only one who could pull it off. But there’s always a half minute or so separating them, so I don’t think anyone can beat that, said Rees.

Done with super series

In Tuesday’s race, Thingnes Bø started early, at number eleven and he also started well with a full house on first shot. Admittedly, after what NRK commentator Andreas Statabrun Smith called “a bit of a messy series”.

– It just happened, added expert commentator Ola Lunde.

However, on the second shot, it didn’t last long. With one error he lost the lead in the race, while among others Quentin Fillon Maillet, Sebastian Samuelsson and Sturla Holm Lægreid were among those who started with two full houses.

There was also one miss on the third shot, but with a quick turn on the cross-country course he was still in a possible golden position to make the final shot. There he held out with a perfect series.

– It was a very good standing series. Masterfully executed. Five good hits. It flows really well, fast and well, says Lunde.

After Lægreid missed his final shot of the race, it was clear that gold was also out of his reach and nothing could threaten Thingnes Bø.

PS! Thingnes Bø was also on the Norwegian team that won gold in the mixed relay at the start of WC.