One of Latvia’s hardest-wring athletes turned in a sensational performance March 19 to win a silver medal for his country.
Biathlon star Andrejs Rastorgujevs claimed his first ever place on the podium of the 15km mass-start event in Norway which rounded off the world cup season, finishing 17 seconds behind Frenchman Martin Fourcade and ahead of Austria’s Simon Eder.
Controversy after Fourcade forgot to reload his gun and was given ammunition even raised the possibility that Rastorgujevs might be promoted to first place, but the Frenchman was deemed not to have broken any regulations and the result stood.
These are the reasons behind the jury's decision on taking no action against @martinfkde today in the men's mass start of #HOL17 pic.twitter.com/prpcMfGww4
— IBU World Cup (@IBU_WC) March 19, 2017
“I want to say a big thanks to my team; they have all worked very hard for this. I think today there will be a big party for my team. I don’t have words for the race today; its so emotional. Hopefully this is a opening of the door for more podiums,” Rastorgujevs said after the race.
LIVE #biathlon moment: https://t.co/etzcAX5WcR #HOL17 pic.twitter.com/459af1FlVx
— IBU World Cup (@IBU_WC) March 19, 2017
The season-ending result leaves Latvia’s best biathlete full of confidence ahead of next season’s Olympic year, when another performance like the one in Norway would make an Olympic medal a real possibility.
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