Hanna Öberg was pushing hard, and when the day was right she couldn't be stopped.
The Swede increased her lead heading into the finish line, 7.5 seconds ahead of Frenchman Lou Jeanmonnot. Talk about a sign of form with less than a month until the fight for the Olympic medals in Antholz.
"I entered the competition in very good form. Then I was able to relax on the range. It was a lot of fun competing today."
Hanna Öberg won the sprint in Annecy in December.
"It's clear that it means a lot to get these results. I actually care most about performing well, but it's clear that winning also means a lot," she tells SVT.
Elvira near the podium
Elvira Öberg was as confident on the range as Hanna Öberg, but she didn't shoot quite as fast and wasn't as quick on the skis. Still, she was close to reaching the podium and finished fourth, less than three seconds behind third-place Italian Lisa Vittozzi.
"I'm super proud to shoot clean, but my body is a little sluggish, I think. I really had to do all the laps myself today. If I had a back to chase, it would have helped," she tells SVT.
With Hanna Öberg's victory, the Swedish sprint podium run this winter remains intact. Elvira Öberg won in Oberhof and before that Anna Magnusson had finished second in Östersund and third in Hochfilzen.
Magnusson continued to maintain a high level and finished eleventh.
Ella Halvarsson, back from illness, did not have the comeback she had hoped for. Three missed shots in the sprint resulted in 49th place.
"It's way too much for her, but she hasn't competed much and needs to get going," tells SVT Swedish shooting coach Jean-Marc Chabloz.
Heavy for Skottheim
Johanna Skottheim got the chance instead of Linn Gestblom. Head coach Johannes Lukas justified it by saying that Gestblom should not strain her shoulder too much considering her injury history - and that Skottheim needs to compete.
Skottheim is fighting with Gestblom and Anna-Karin Hejdenberg for the two Olympic spots that remain to be awarded.
She didn't come out on top after the 7.5 kilometers. Two missed shots and a run that weren't enough to break into the top 60 were not something either she or Lukas wanted to see.
Hejdenberg strengthened her Olympic chances by coming in 19th place.
