The ÖSV team missed the podium by almost one and a half minutes. Norway took the win after 4 x 7.5 kilometers with Vetle Sjastad Christiansen, Sturla Holm Laegreid, Tarjei and Johannes Thingnes Bö (7 spares) after 1:19:26.2 hours.
Norske won 43.9 seconds ahead of Germany and 1:05.9 minutes ahead of France. Austria was 2:31.2 behind the winners with only four penalties. After the disappointing start in singles, the first season meant a strong sign of life for the red-white-red team. A consistently strong performance brought the first top place, mainly thanks to the strong shooting performance.
Starter Komatz shot clean in both shooting bouts. The Styrian handed over to Eder as a good fourth, 21.2 seconds behind. Austria’s veteran was then able to follow the strong performance of his teammate. After a flawless prone series, the Salzburg player had to put up with two spares in standing. He handed over to Leitner in sixth place. The Tyrolean only needed an additional cartridge while standing and handed over Jakob again as fourth. The 26-year-old managed to finish well with just one missed shot.
“I started the competition full of confidence and was able to keep up well in the first lap. Of course, lying zero was important because afterwards I caught a good group to run with,” stated Komatz. “The pace on the second lap was then quite high, but I was able to deliver a clean series while standing.” His performance would give him confidence for the next competitions, he said. Eder was also happy, especially about the increase compared to the individual. “Of course, the two spares were a shame, because in the relay every second is crucial. The top 6 was our goal before the race and we achieved that today.”
Leitner (“Today was absolutely fine for the second race of the season”) and Jakob were happy. “Obviously I trembled a bit in standing, but I think I managed it quite well. On the final loop, I knew exactly where I was going to attack and that worked out really well.”
In the afternoon the women’s relay was still on the program, on Saturday the sprint competitions continued.
Source: Nachrichten
