Boe, Makarainen win biathlon World Cup sprints

Norwegian biathlete Johannes Thingnes Boe had an easy win in the men's World Cup 10-kilometre sprint, his sixth career victory, while Finland's Kaisa Makarainen took the women's title.

Boe, who was third in the overall rankings last season, had the fastest time arriving at the prone shooting, hit all targets and remained ahead of the field for the rest of the race Friday, finishing in 24 minutes, 34.9 seconds ahead of two Germans Simon Schempp and Andreas Birnbacher, reported Xinhua.

Schempp and Birnbacher, who also shot cleanly, trailed the Norwegian by 14.3 and 17.9 seconds, respectively.

On the women's front, Makarainen missed one target before finishing in 20:55.6 to beat Karin Oberhofer of Italy to win the women's race.

The Finish athlete, who shot cleanly, won by 10.4 seconds. Oberhofer led after the final shooting but could not match Makarainen's pace on the track. The Italian earned her first career podium finish.

Tiril Eckhoff of Norway, who won the season opening sprint a week ago, also missed once and came in third.