OBERHOF. Elvira Öberg misses today’s distance race at the WC.
But the biathlon star is on the road to recovery, her father Tomas tells her The radio sport.
– She feels that things are going in the right direction, so we really hope that she is on the starting line this weekend, he says.
On Sunday, the association announced that Elvira Öberg fell ill after the sprint race and the 23-year-old was therefore forced to sit out the start of the chase. Now the national team confirms that her sore throat has not gone away and Öberg will therefore not start in today’s distance race:
– No start for Elvira. She feels a little better today but still has a bit of a sore throat. We hope that it develops positively during the day, says head coach Johannes Lukas.
Dad: Going in the right direction
Elvira Öberg has lived in a single room throughout the championship and was isolated directly from the rest of the squad. Johannes Lukas has been hopeful all along that Öberg, who was one of the big medal favorites before the WC, might have time to recover for the final distances this weekend.
Now Öberg’s father Tomas gives a status report.
– She feels that things are going in the right direction, so we really hope that she is on the starting line on Saturday (relay) and Sunday (mass start), he tells Radiosporten.
Father and mother Öberg have just arrived here at the WC resort Oberhof.
– It’s obviously super boring to catch a cold at a championship, says mother Viktoria, who gets to cheer on big sister Hanna Öberg during today’s race.
No decision on replacement
The Swedish national team has five female skiers on site and five starting places for the distance race. This means that the starting field will not be filled and no word on whether a reserve rider will be flown down has yet been taken.
Of the replacements at home in Sweden, it is mainly Tilde Johansson, Johanna Skottheim and Stina Nilsson who are relevant.
The ladies’ distance race starts Wednesday 14.30 – follow the race here
