By Philip O’Connor
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – Johannes Thingnes Boe used a little lane discipline to deliver Norway a record 15th gold medal at a single Winter Olympics when he triumphed in the men’s biathlon 15km mass start on Friday, grabbing his fourth title in Beijing.
Boe’s mastery in the sport was clear for all to see as he became the first biathlete to win four gold medals at a single Games since countryman Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in Salt Lake City, with the 28-year-old saying it came down to getting the right lane on the range in Friday’s race.
“Yeah, it was difficult (conditions) but on the second prone (shooting) I managed to get lane one, there’s less wind there,” Boe told Reuters.
Boe managed to get his preferred lane for the remaining two visits to the range.
“For my standing shooting I had less wind, so today I was quite lucky with the conditions compared to the pursuit (race) when I was unlucky,” he said.
Despite four misses from his 20 shots, Boe was able to use his powerful skiing to stay ahead of the field and claim the gold.
“It (the Olympics) went better than I expected, so now I can really relax, I get I get a good feeling thinking about this — I wanted relay gold and individual gold, so yeah, I’m pumped,” he said.
Boe was part of a Norwegian team that won six golds, two silvers and six bronze medals, and the 28-year-old said he was delighted with the way the biathlon completions had gone in Beijing, despite some freezing temperatures and tough shooting conditions.
“We have seen some crazy, crazy races and people that don’t watch winter sports or don’t usually see the Olympics, they have watched new competitions, new sports and I think biathlon has got some new fans,” he said.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
