Winter sports: Another podium for Anna Magnusson – third in the Östersund pursuit

Sweden’s Anna Magnusson, 30, delivered another standout performance at the Biathlon World Cup in Östersund, finishing third in the women’s pursuit. Starting second after her sprint podium on Friday, she maintained high speed on the skis and sealed the podium by shooting clean in the final bout.

“It’s different when you know going into the last shooting that you have to hit them for a podium. I’m really happy I managed it,” Magnusson told SVT.

Austria’s Lisa Hauser took the victory with an impressive final lap, passing Finland’s Suvi Minkkinen, who had started first and controlled much of the race before fading late to finish 2.5 seconds behind Hauser. Magnusson’s third place is the fourth World Cup podium of her career.

Sweden had several notable results: Ella Halvarsson placed seventh and Elvira Öberg took 14th. Hanna Öberg produced one of the charges of the day, climbing 50 positions to finish ninth after a difficult sprint on Friday where she ended 59th with five penalties. “It was tight at the start, but it felt like I could work methodically through the race,” she said, adding that it felt good to put the sprint behind her and deliver a strong race in the pursuit.

Magnusson summed up the weekend as beyond expectations and said she is eager for what’s ahead.