Double yellow: New German biathlon fairytale

World Cup in Östersund - Double yellow: New German biathlon fairytale

To crown the best German biathlon start in history, Franziska Preuß and Philipp Nawrath were once again celebrated on the podium - and in their yellow jerseys to boot.

The German duo sensationally finished the fairytale World Cup in Östersund as leaders of the overall standings and will take the coveted jerseys with them to the next stop in Hochfilzen, Austria, on Friday. "I'm very happy to keep the jersey and I'm very motivated to defend it for as long as possible," Preuß told the German Press Agency.

DSV's best start to the season

While Preuß lost the final sprint in the pursuit by 0.3 seconds, Nawrath missed his second career victory within two days by only 5.1 seconds. A good 24 hours after his surprising sprint triumph, the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson overtook the strong Allgäuer in the end. "It was a nice feeling to put on the yellow. I'm also very happy with the race," said Nawrath.

The disappointment was limited, however, because ten podium places in the first races of the season meant a performance that had never been seen before for the DSV ski hunters. Only in 2001 had they made it onto the podium nine times. "The time here was really good for the whole team. We're really happy as a team about the results," said Preuß: "Of course we all hope that it continues like this."

Preuß and Nawrath second in pursuit

For the first time in yellow, she went into the pursuit and only had to admit defeat to the French sprint winner Lou Jeanmonnot in the final meters. Behind her, Vanessa Voigt from Thuringia finished a strong third, as she had done in the individual race. "The course is very tough, you don't get more horsepower just because you have the yellow number," said Preuß.

In the opening individual race, she missed out on victory by just 0.1 seconds. After many setbacks, she was still thinking about ending her career a few weeks ago. Now, like Laura Dahlmeier in 2017, she is keeping the coveted bib of the top athlete and will also be competing in the Alps next week not far from her adopted home of Ruhpolding.

After the retirement of Olympic and world champion Denise Herrmann-Wick in the spring, nobody dared to dream of such a start. There were great concerns that it could be a dull winter without victories. But the good early form and perfect material after the new fluoride wax ban catapulted the Germans to the front.

National coach Velepec: "historic moment"

"It's getting difficult to find the right words for these performances," said sports director Felix Bitterling. The premiere victories for the veterans Roman Rees in the singles and Nawrath (both 30), three Germans alternating at the top of the World Cup, plus podium places for both relay teams as well as two for Vanessa Voigt and one for Justus Strelow and Nawrath again.

On a crazy day, Nawrath had initially snatched the yellow jersey from his team-mate Rees in the sprint. Three Germans were suddenly ahead in the overall standings before Rees had to pull out of the chase for safety's sake. "This is a historic moment," said national coach Uros Velepec about this constellation, but immediately added: "We don't think we'll stay like this for very long, but we'll enjoy the moment. This is a dream day for us."

Now the pressure is mounting

And the 56-year-old Slovenian was not to be proved right. Because Nawrath actually managed to defend his bib despite extremely strong competition. He was even in the lead going into the final shooting, but then had to go into the penalty loop once, just like his closest rival Samuelsson (3 misses in total). Nawrath (2 faults) could not quite keep up in the final kilometers. Third place went to the Norwegian Vetle Sjastad Christiansen (1/+ 7.2 seconds).

With the successes, the pressure will probably also increase for the DSV ski hunters. "You shouldn't freak out completely now, but stay calm. This is just the beginning of a long season, a lot can happen," said the two-time Olympic champion Dahlmeier to the dpa. The 30-year-old was there herself in Östersund as a ZDF expert and was somewhat surprised at how well things are already going. There is still a long way to go before the World Championships in the Czech Republic in February. But Dahlmeier has high hopes for her successor Preuß in particular: "You have to keep working consistently and calmly," said the seven-time world champion: "Then it's definitely possible to wear a jersey like this for the whole season."