The Norwegian Johannes Boe, undefeated in the exercise throughout last winter, finished outside the top 10 in the sprint in Hochfilzen (Austria) on Friday, as he did at the season opener a week earlier in Östersund (Sweden).
Boe was once again penalized by three fouls behind the rifle, all in standing shooting. He placed 11th, 47 seconds behind his older brother Tarjei, victorious with a 10 out of 10 on the shooting range.
The four-time winner of the big crystal globe only took 18th place in the first sprint of the season last weekend.
Tarjei Boe (35 years old) beat his compatriot Sturla Laegreid, author of a flawless performance also on the shooting range, by 4 seconds 9/10, and the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson, a missed target, by 10 seconds.
Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet, three missed targets like Johannes Boe, is pushed back to 18th place and will start 1 min 22 sec late at the start of the pursuit on Saturday.