The Swedish biathlon star was on his way to a cannon run when the World Cup circus had left the Finnish darkness for the sun in the Austrian Alps.
Everything went according to plan – right up until the last shot in the standing position. Then Samuelsson missed, a costly mistake that cost him a podium spot and maybe even the victory.
Samuelsson finished sixth, beaten by 21.1 seconds by the winner Johannes Thingnes Bø. The Norwegian won narrowly ahead of his teammate Sturla Holm Lægreid, while France's Fabien Claude finished third.
It's a very good run, I have to be satisfied with it. It feels like it's close, but I guess many can say that, says Samuelsson to SVT.
Martin Ponsiluoma took a step in the right direction. The setbacks on the shooting range continued with two misses in the prone shooting, but then Ponsiluoma redeemed himself and shot full in the standing position.
Incredibly nice to get the standing series, he says.
Ponsiluoma finished twelfth and has 43 seconds to try to catch up when it's pursuit start on Saturday.
