The 28-year-old didn’t have a single penalty on the shooting range and ended up with the fourth fastest 7.5 km time, 7.0 seconds behind Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff. She also missed once, as did her third-placed compatriot Marte Olsbu Röiseland (+9.4 seconds). Hauser is therefore in a very good starting position for the pursuit on Saturday (12.50 p.m.).
The ÖSV athlete opened up the competition and presented it right away: “Start number one challenged me a bit in advance, because I don’t usually like it that much,” said the mass start world champion. With spring-like temperatures and therefore softer snow conditions, she saw it as an advantage this time. She found one or the other compact section more. Hauser: “To get two clean sheets is of course awesome and with this place on the podium a big dream comes true today.”
Dunja Zdouc also scored World Cup points in the sprint, which was held without Russians and Belarusians because of the invasion of Ukraine. The Carinthian finished 20th (+1:38.9 mins), having been further up the field before her only missed shot in the standing stage. “In retrospect, this one mistake is of course all the more annoying because everything else would have worked so well,” said Zdouc. “Nevertheless, I am very satisfied.” Also qualified for the pursuit is Anna Juppe as day 48. (2 penalties/+2:40.6).
Hauser, who was just ahead of Eckhoff (28th World Cup victory) after the second shooting, made up ground in the World Cup and now has a better chance of finishing third in the overall World Cup at the weekend. She currently has eleven points ahead of Hanna Öberg, who was only 39th in the daily rankings, but discarded results will still come into their own.
The ball is at stake between Röiseland, who is 106 points ahead, and Sweden’s Elvira Öberg. This final result was also in the Sprint World Cup. In the special classification, Hanna Öberg saved six points ahead of fourth-placed Hauser in third place. For Hauser it is the third place on the podium this season. She had won the sprint at the start of the season in Östersund and finished second in the individual. In the Nations Cup won by Norway, the ÖSV women finished seventh, leaving them with five starting places for 2022/23.
The men’s sprint is still on the program on Friday (3.50 p.m., live ORF Sport +). The men’s and women’s pursuit races are scheduled for Saturday (12:50 p.m./3:00 p.m.), Hauser can also score points in the mass start on Sunday (12:50 p.m.). The end of the season will then be the men’s mass start (3:00 p.m.).
Source: Nachrichten
