March 20, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Emile Hegle Svendsen of Norway topped the podium for the second straight day, claiming Sunday’s 15km Mass Start World Cup at the Holmenkollen, the shrine of Nordic skiing in his homeland. Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov was a close second while the legendary Norwegian, Ole Einer Bjorndalen, had to settle for third.

Svendsen’s victory put him atop the final standings for the Overall Mass Start title with 244 points, 14 ahead of runner up Martin Fourcade of France.

The first round of shooting saw a bevy of clean shooters, as a tight pack of 15 racers left the stadium behind the master, Bjorndalen. Ivan Tcherezov of Russia was on his heels in 2nd, while Fourcade was close behind as well.

The second lap saw clean shooting from Fourcade, Norway’s Lars Berger and Arnd Pfeiffer of Germany, as the trio then left the stadium with a caravan of eight more skiers. Svendsen and Bjorndalen both took a penalty loop for their 1-miss efforts but took up the chase in earnest.

The first standing stage proved troublesome for the front pack, as not one of the trio of leaders could clean the targets. However Ustyugov, who had not missed so far in the competition, continued his perfection to jump into the lead alongside a clean shooting Alexander Wolf and Florian Graf both of Germany.

Several competitors were still in the mix to make the winner’s circle as the pressure mounted with the final standing shooting leg approaching.

Entering the stadium for the final shooting stage, Ustyugov was in charge but knew that at least 10 biathletes were within 30 seconds and ready to pounce. The Olympic Mass Start champion missed a single shot, while a surging Bjorndalen cleaned to take a 15-second lead over Ustyugov and Svendsen, who also was without a miss.

Both racers charged to make up the time as Bjorndalen advanced steadily and the partisan crowd as loving it as Bjorndalen is the most decorated biathlete of all time. Yet all of past glory could not suppress the young chasers behind.

Ustyugov attacked on one of the remaining climbs but Svendsen countered and the pace quickened as they now had Bjorndalen in their sights. Up the final hill there was no stopping the duo and Svendsen was clearly faster and hungrier, as they both passed Bjorndalen and made for the finish.

But Ustyugov was no match for Svendsen who surged to the line besting the Russian by a mere 0.4 seconds for the gold as Bjorndalen settled for third at 10s. Another 45s later WCup overall leader, Tarjei Boe, crossed the line in 8th to secure his Yellow Bib quest. It was a great day for the Norwegians.

Later Svendsen said he was surprised that he was able to make up the time for the victory.

“With one kilometer to go, I still thought there was no chance to catch Ole,” Svendsen commented in an IBU report. “When we got to the last uphill, I must still have been 15 or 20 seconds behind and I did not think Evgeny and I had any chance. Then, at the top, I saw that he was not that far ahead and I just went for it. From there, it was almost like yesterday.”

Ustyugov said after the race that he used the strong performance by the Russian women earlier in the day as motivation. “After yesterday, I was thinking today that I would not start. But after seeing the women in their race, I was inspired,” offered Ustyugov. “I did not think I had a chance to catch Ole until that last hill today. Of course, now I am quite satisfied with my race.”

Norway’s biathlon king, Bjorndalen, said that he was running on empty when he was caught in the final stretch. “My shooting was really good today. I did not race yesterday because I was feeling very tired. I think that was a good tactic,” he said, “I tried to get some extra seconds on the last lap, but the last kilometer was really black. I had no chance of standing on my legs any more. It was really horrible.”

“This was my goal,” Boe said of his overall WCup series victory. “This might be the best season that I will ever have, even if I go 10 or 15 more years. I am very happy.”

Svendsen’s result put him five points behind Boe for the overall WCup victory. Fourcade took 3rd place for his efforts with 990. The USA’s Lowell Bailey was the top North American in 41st overall while Jean Philippe Le Guellec was the top Canadian in 50th.

No North American’s qualified for Sunday’s Mass Start, which marked the last race of the World Cup season.

Full results HERE.
Final WCup Standings HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Emil Hegle Svendsen, NOR (0+1+1+0) 39:07.6
2. Evgeny Ustyugov, RUS (0+0+0+1) 39:08.0
3. Ole Einer Bjorndalen, NOR (0+1+0+0) 39:17.6