Johannes Thingnes Boe (31) outclassed the field to win gold for Norway in the men's 10km sprint at the International Biathlon Union World Championships on Saturday, with Campbell Wright (22) clinching a shock silver for the United States.
The New Zealand-born American finished 27.7 seconds behind Thingnes Boe, who won in 21 minutes, 56.8 seconds, with France's Quentin Fillon Maillet taking the bronze.
Thingnes Boe's blistering win on Saturday made him the most successful biathlete at the World Championships as he eclipsed Norwegian compatriot Ole Einar Bjoerndalen's former record of 20 gold medals
Thingnes Boe's amazing achievement has, however, been somewhat overshadowed by the fact that the Swiss TV-production company in charge of broadcasting the International Biathlon Union World Championships failed to show images from Thingnes Boe's final shooting section, which has prompted immense criticism from Norwegain spectators and TV-experts.
"Today (Saturday, ed.) it was one out of ten points. It was miserable. You mustn't miss the big favorite in the field", says biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who now works as an expert on TV 2 Norge, to NRK and continues:
"I cannot describe how disastrous it is for a TV production. It is one of the most important races, it is the sprint."
This time the World Championships are held in Switzerland, which does not have a great history and tradition of biathlon, which may explain why production has been lacking.
The federation acknowledges that a mistake was made on Saturday afternoon that never should not have happened.
"First of all, we must say that it was a mistake that Johannes' last series of shots wasn't not shown, that should not happen. It is not right. We apologize. Especially to the Norwegian audience who did not get to see it", says Christian Winkler, media officer from the IBU.