Biathlon: Germans fourth in mixed relay
The German biathletes failed to finish on the podium in the first two competitions of the new winter. At the season opener in Östersund, Sweden, Roman Rees, Philipp Nawrath, Sophia Schneider and Vanessa Voigt had to settle for fourth place in the mixed relay, after Hanna Kebinger and Justus Strelow had previously finished seventh in the single mixed.
In the Olympic race over 4 x 6 kilometers, the DSV quartet had eight reloads and were unable to get into the fight for the top three. France secured the victory well ahead of Norway and Italy. Germany was 55.7 seconds behind the leaders and 16 seconds off third place. Overall, the Germans showed good partial performances, but in the end there were one or two mistakes too many.
Rees (30) needed two reloads in the standing position and switched to Nawrath, who replaced the slightly injured Benedikt Doll in the team at short notice, in fourth place just under ten seconds behind the leaders. The 30-year-old, who suffered a broken metatarsal in the summer, came to the standing start as the leader of a small leading group: with one reload he only had to let Norway's superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö go by 17.9 seconds and handed over to Schneider in second place.
Strong competition
The 26-year-old performed well until her only reload in the second shooting, but then had problems getting the cartridge into the magazine, lost time and slipped back a place. Final skier Voigt, who started the race 30 seconds behind the leading Norwegian team, performed solidly. The 26-year-old from Thuringia was unable to hold off the leading competition, but secured fourth place thanks to a good final lap. "The last few days were rather tough. The best in the world are in the final position. But I think I sold myself quite well and am quite satisfied," said Voigt on ARD.
A few hours before the start of the competition, the German Ski Association (DSV) announced that veteran Benedikt Doll (33) would not be competing in the mixed relay as a precautionary measure due to a minor "infection symptom". According to team doctor Jan Wüstenfeld, however, he will probably start in the 20-kilometer individual race on Sunday. The women will start their 15-kilometer race at 11:20 am.
Source: www.dpa.com
