Johannes Thingnes Bø (29) and the rest of the Norwegian national biathlon team went the normal distance for black screens after a power cut in Ruhpolding.
11.01.2023 14:59
Updated 11.01.2023 16:11
During the men’s normal distance, the TV 2 signal ended abruptly due to the power cut. Johannes Thingnes Bø won despite two misses, most closely challenged by teammates Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Jakov Fak.
NRK reported that the jury could consider canceling the results, but the International Biathlon Union (IBU) confirmed that Johannes Thingnes Bø remained the winner shortly after.
– I got little with me, and that was perhaps a good thing. At the last second ring, I was told that the power had gone out and that visibility was poor, says Christiansen to TV 2 – who just before the interview experienced that the power went out again in the stadium.
He says the preparations were changed as a result of him changing the light, before he felt he didn’t need it after all. And on the very last shot came the miss that cost him the victory.
– I am so cursed that you have no idea, says Christiansen about the boom – which was not caused by the electricity chaos.
However, it was not the power chaos that caused the Geilo boy to miss. When he talks to VG on the phone, the electricity partially goes back on.
– It is rarely fair in biathlon. But unforeseen things like this should not happen, says Christiansen to VG.
Directly on TV 2, he is good at not using profanity, but vis-a-vis VG he can allow himself to exclaim a little more about the latest boom.
– The last shot is the devil in biathlon, a bit like a penalty kick in the World Cup final in football – it is the same type of consequence. It looks so good when it misses. I missed the penalty kick today, says Christiansen – and adds that he was not particularly affected by the electricity chaos, and in that respect was lucky.
Thingnes Bø believes the power cut has certainly affected the result on the normal distance.
– It’s a shame, really. It’s a bit of an aftertaste, I’ll admit. I was lucky with both the starting number and the power cut, he says to TV 2.
Sturla Holm Lægreid, who came fourth, says that the focus changed from aiming to just seeing the flashes. He entered the stand during the power outage, but says no more than “you may have to speculate on that, it turned out as it did” when asked if he thought it affected the result.
TV 2 commentator Marius Skjelbæk commented on Twitter (!) during the power cut.
– It’s a disaster, quite simply, says Skjelbæk about the fact that the race photos were gone – and clarifies that it is “perhaps a bit awkward” to use such words in a sporting context.
The channel set up a provisional solution to broadcast Northug and presenter Ida Moseng.
Johannes Thingnes Bø had two misses, and reached over the fence to look at the TV 2 gang’s iPad – but also the results service from the Biathlon Union was down.
On the live broadcast, Thingnes Bø is informed that rivals Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Sturla Holm Lægreid both missed the last standing.
It was enough to secure victory in the race that no one could see for a while.
– We don’t know the reasons why it happened, and have to find out what happened, says race manager Daniel Böhm to TV 2.
