Wright Lands Sixth, Celebrates First Flower Ceremony of the Season
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by Sara Donatello
Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/Waiorau Nordic Skiing) jumped 12 positions in today’s men’s 12.5km pursuit to cross the line in sixth place, celebrating his third career World Cup flower ceremony in Östersund, SWE. Wright finished 25 seconds back from the victorious Quentin Fillon-Maillet of France, who was joined on the podium by Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson and Norway’s Johan-Olav Botn.
“My legs are working great,” said Wright in a post-race interview with Eurosport. “Even if it’s all downhill from here, at least I opened strong. So, pretty happy with that!”
Not only was today’s result the first flower ceremony of the season for Wright, but it was also his first time shooting a perfect 20 for 20 on the range. This exciting career milestone mixed with the top overall course time made the perfect recipe for a flower ceremony result.
When asked about his first perfect shooting, Wright added, “It’s awesome. It’s much easier to ski fast on the last loop when you don't do a penalty loop. Great success!”
To add to the excitement of the day, Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) had his second top-15 result in two days, finishing 14th. Despite the tired legs, Germain shot 18 for 20 to cross the line +1:13.8 back from Fillon-Maillet. Sean Doherty (Conway, NH/Army World Class Athlete Program) jumped 10 positions on the day to cross the line in 43rd. Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI/Team Birkie/Ariens Nordic Center) finished just behind Doherty in 46th, holding his start position throughout the race.
Earlier in the day, Margie Freed (Apple Valley, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) had her personal best World Cup pursuit result, finishing 51st. Chloe Levins (Williston, VT/Mansfield Nordic Pro) jumped four positions in the women’s pursuit to land 56th.
Next up, the team heads to Hochfilzen, AUT for World Cup 2. Racing kicks off on Friday, December 12 with the men’s 10km sprint at 5:25 ET/11:25 CET, followed by the women’s 7.5km sprint at 8:15 ET/14:15 CET. Live stream is available for free via Eurovision Sports and live updates can be found on the IBU App; for all information, click HERE.
