Strong men's biathlon results in Germany bring hope for Beijing Olympics
Biathlete Rene Zahkna posted the best individual result of his career so far, after finishing 17th in the 10km sprint in 17th place at the Oberhof biathlon World Championship round in Germany. The result, along with that of compatriot Kristo Siimer, have helped keep Estonia's men's biathlon qualification hopes for next month's Winter Olympics in Beijing on track
Zahkna said post-race that: "Naturally, the result is great. The race wasn't really anything special, but everything went according to plan. The wind was just right and I knew exactly what to do. Everything went my way, though I hadn't expected this surprising result."
Friday's results in Oberhof also gave cause for Estonia's Winter Olympics qualification hopes.
Before Friday's event, Estonia was 170 points behind Japan, the last-placed team to qualify for Beijing as things stand, but now the gap has closed to 32 points.
The Beijing Winter Olympics start February 4.
Zahkna's previous personal best result dates back to 2019, when he finished 29th in the men's 12.5km men's stage in a world championship event in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Fellow biathlete Kristo Siimer also produced the best race of his career, finishing in 57th place, and both athletes qualified for Sunday's pursuit race.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
