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Jönsson claims third biathlon win of the season

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Jönsson claims third biathlon win of the season

Sweden’s Helena Jönsson, the reigning biathlon World Cup champion, cruised to her third victory in five races on Thursday be winning the women's 15km individual race in Slovenia.

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The 25-year-old reigning world 10km pursuit champion, who has already won at Hochfilzen, Austria, and Östersund, Sweden, this season, was the surprise World Cup winner last winter and was faultless with the rifle here.

"I have real confidence in my shooting at the moment, that is what is making a real difference," said Jönsson.

Her winning time was 43 minutes 4.1 seconds and she finished 22.6 seconds ahead of her nearest rival and compatriot Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek who claimed second and made just one mistake on the shooting range.

Slovakia's Anastasiya Kuzmina was third having also picked up one penalty point and she finished 27.3 seconds behind Jönsson.

Jönsson's win consolidates her first place in the overall World Cup standings with 277 points compared to Olofsson-Zidek who has 234.

The biggest surprise of the day was the performance of Germany's Magdalena Neuner, world number one in the 2007-08 winter and six-times world champion, who finished 18th and picked up four penalty points.

The 22-year-old has still yet to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics which will be held in Vancouver from February 12-28.

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