The star immediately climbed the leaderboard. He was fourth after the first shot, second after the second, and despite the miss in the third, he managed to maintain his grip on the position.
Until the fourth and final shot, the 28-year-old was close behind Norwegian leader Johan-Olav Botn, but after another missed shot, he lost one place.
But it was only temporary.
At the end of the race, Samuelsson changed lanes, showing that both energy and determination were there when he pushed a little extra and drove past Botn. The jerk gave him enough of a gap to squeeze into a podium place.
It was the audience that did it. I wondered if I should go there or wait until before the riot. I was tired but I went for it. It felt like I had a chance but I didn't dare look back. The audience lifted me up, it was fun, he tells SVT.
The Swede finished second, 6.7 seconds behind French winner Quentin Fillon Maillet.
I thought I was going a little slow but I felt like I was in control for the first three laps. I was thinking about overtaking but I thought, “I’m here, I’m in the lead, if I just shoot well I have a chance,” he says.
I really had a chance all the way, unfortunately I missed a shot in the last one.
If you want to win, you need to push hard at the last minute, like Fillon Maillet did.
Samuelsson has thus had a good start to the season – with a result of 3–1–3–2 – and is second overall in the World Cup with 190 points, 55 points behind leader Johan-Olav Botn.
