March 14, 2014 (Kontiolahti, Finland) – Clean shooting paved the way for Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe to take home the victory in the men’s 10km sprint yesterday in Kontiolahti, Finland at round 8 of the IBU World Cup in a time of 23:33.2.

World Cup leader Martin Fourcade (FRA) was second, also shooting clean, at 7.1s behind in a fierce battle with Germany’s Arnd Peiffer who missed one target, as he settled for third only 0.1s behind Fourcade.

The top North American of the day was Canada’s Nathan Smith in 21st with one penalty at 1:05.4 behind followed by teammate Brendan Green in 26th at 1:23.2 back also with one penalty.

Leading for the USA was Lowell Bailey in 29th at 1:29.1 behind with two penalties followed by teammate Tim Burke who finished in 35th with one penalty at 1:32.3. Fellow American Leif Nordgren was 55th at 2:21.5 with two penalties.

Warm, almost windless, conditions meant soft snow which affected some skiers but not Boe who told biathlonworld.com, “I really like these tracks; they really fit me with the fast early part and then the hard uphill.” Peiffer was also on track with an early lead but was not able to maintain the pace falling back and then regaining some time to finish 3rd.

For Boe, “…a big difference was my shooting which was very fast today” as he claimed his third career victory signaling he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Full results here.