Biathlon: Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma shoot themselves out of contention in the mass start

Sebastian Samuelsson and Martin Ponsiluoma looked poised to fight for the win in the men’s mass start in Le Grand-Bornand, France. After two clean shooting stages, both Swedes entered the range for the third shooting in second and third place, just a second behind Italy’s Tommaso Giacomel.

However, the race turned during the second half on the range. Both Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma incurred two penalties in the third shooting, derailing their podium chances. Samuelsson later explained to SVT Sport: “I lost my rhythm a bit in the middle—there were one or two misses too many.”

Samuelsson finished as the top Swede in 9th place with three total misses, 55 seconds behind Giacomel, who won the mass start. Ponsiluoma added two more penalties in the final shooting and placed 11th with five total misses, reflecting on the pressure of biathlon: “It’s biathlon; it’s not as easy as you think—it’s shaky, there are nerves, everything—and you have to handle it.”

Despite missing the podium, both expressed optimism about their form. Ponsiluoma noted he felt in very good shape heading into the holiday break, while Samuelsson highlighted his season-long consistency with top‑ten results in nearly every race so far.

Jesper Nelin had a difficult day, also missing five targets and struggling on the skis, finishing 27th of the 30 starters.

SVT expert Mona Brorsson summed it up: it was tough to see two Swedes in the fight for victory but neither seizing the chance.