Biathlon, World Cup: Giacomel wins Hochfilzen sprint

Milan, Dec. 12 (LaPresse) – Excellent performance by Tommaso Giacomel in the Hochfilzen sprint, which opens the Austrian weekend. For the 25-year-old Italian, it is his second career victory, less than a year after his win in the mass start at Ruhpolding last season. The Italian financial police athlete stayed at the top of the rankings throughout the race, with a final acceleration that left every competitor behind. Perfect in both shooting sessions, Giacomel was also very fast on skis, finishing with a time of 23’04″5, 4 seconds ahead of Frenchman Eric Perrot and 6 ahead of German Philipp Horn. All three top finishers had flawless shooting and delivered a tight finish, from which the Italian emerged victorious. Lukas Hofer finished 28th with 2 misses and a 1’30″3 deficit, while Patrick Braunhofer was 45th with 1 miss, 1’55″8 behind. Beyond 50th place were Didier Bionaz, Elia Zeni, and Christoph Pircher. Nevertheless, five Italians qualified for the pursuit. Giacomel thus rises to third place in the overall standings, still led by Norwegian Johan-Olav Botn (today fourth) with 300 points, followed by Swede Sebastian Samuelsson with 224 points, just one more than Giacomel, who has 223. On Saturday, the pursuit is scheduled, starting at 12:00.