Defending IBU World Cup champion Fourcade sprints to dominant win in Östersund

Frenchman Martin Fourcade claimed men's 10km sprint gold in Östersund ©IBU

Defending overall International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup champion Martin Fourcade produced a dominant display to secure victory in the men’s 10 kilometres sprint event in Östersund, Sweden, today.

Two-times Olympic champion Fourcade powered round the course in 24min 02sec, incurring two penalties on his way to gold in blustery conditions.

The Frenchman finished a comfortable 51.6 seconds in front of nearest challenger Germany's Arnd Peiffer, while Norwegian veteran Ole Einar Bjørndalen, winner of the 20km title earlier in the week, did enough to earn bronze.

Another Frenchman, Quentin Fillon Maillet, was fourth for the second event in a row.

Fourcade, a double Olympic gold medallist at Sochi 2014, currently lies in third place on the World Cup standings on 80 points, six behind Maillet in second, while Bjørndalen tops the leaderboard on 108 points.

“My speed is good, I am a bit angry about my mistake in prone; I was too eager to get back on the track,” Fourcade said.

“I never thought I could have such a big advantage with two mistakes.

“I do not think I have ever won with such big gap.

“I am happy about my shape, my skis and my team who did a great job today - it is always good to start the season with two big ski performances.”

Overall World Cup champion Martin Fourcade dominated the race to take gold ©IBU

The race got underway amid strong winds and Johannes Thingnes Boe, the reigning world champion in the 10km sprint event, managed to move into an early lead which was quickly closed by Fourcade, who found his earlier rhythm with a blistering first skiing section.

Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen then began to challenge Fourcade at the top of the 106-man field, with current World Cup leader Bjørndalen also in contention.

While the majority of the competitors sought shelter between the 28th and 30th checkpoints, Fourcade went through the shooting phase in quick time and, though he incurred a penalty, he negated the 150 metres penalty loop with ease to surge into a 44-second advantage.

He then managed to further his lead over the chasing pack which all-but ensured he would take gold, leaving an exciting battle for the other podium positions.

Eventually, Peiffer seemingly came from nowhere to secure silver, thanks to clean prone shooting, with Bjørndalen hanging on to third spot.

Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic shot clean to take the women's 7.5km honours, clocking 19:46.2 to edge Italian Federika Sanfilippo, while Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine was third.

The result cements her advantage at the top of the overall leaderboard as she has 100 points, with Pidhrushna second on 96.