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Sebastian Samuelsson and his problem rifle
Photo: IMAGO/MATHIAS BERGELD / IMAGO/Bildbyran
A technical defect in Olympic champion Sebastian Samuelsson's rifle deprived the Swedish mixed relay team of a possible medal at the start of the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof.
"After the race, it was discovered that the screws holding the rifle to the stock were loose," the 25-year-old wrote on Instagram.
Samuelsson had three penalties as the anchor in prone on Wednesday and then used all three spares in standing.
The Swedes in the line-up of Hanna and Elvira Öberg, Martin Ponsiluoma and Samuelsson fell back from the medal ranks to ninth place when Norway won.
Samuelsson called it "one of the hardest experiences of my career so far" and of course he was "obviously very disappointed".
After the race, the three-time World Cup winner cried and needed to be comforted.
The five-time World Cup medalist from the team of German head coach Johannes Lukas quickly looked ahead and was looking forward to the World Cup sprint on Saturday (2:30 p.m. / TV: ZDF).
"Thanks to everyone who reached out in various ways with words of encouragement," Samuelsson wrote.
Germans disappoint with sixth place
The Norwegian mixed relay with Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Sturla Holm Laegreid and Johannes Thingnes Bø had won the first decision at the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof.
Silver went to Italy (+11.6 seconds), France took bronze (+55.9 seconds).
The German season, with Vanessa Voigt, Denise Herrmann-Wick, Benedikt Doll and Roman Rees, achieved sixth place (+1.26.5 minutes) among 26 seasons that had started.
The next competition at the World Championships in Oberhof (until February 19) is the women's sprint on Friday after the rest day on Thursday.
It also starts at 2:30 p.m.
mfu/dpa
