German biathletes cause a sensation
With the first biathlon World Cup victory of his career, Roman Rees becomes the first German in almost 15 years to win the yellow jersey of the overall World Cup leader. He wins ahead of his equally strong team-mate Justus Strelow, followed by dominator Johannes Thingnes Bö.
Roman Rees and Justus Strelow have given the German biathletes a dream start to the new season. In the 20-kilometre individual race in Östersund, Sweden, Rees won in 51:27.2 minutes, without any mistakes at the shooting range and with great skiing material ahead of compatriot Strelow (1/+12.1 seconds) and celebrated the biggest success of his career with his first World Cup victory. "Unbelievable. I wasn't sure for so long whether it could be true," said Rees on ARD: "I felt relaxed today and was looking forward to the individual." The victory also makes him the first German in almost 15 years to win the yellow jersey of the overall World Cup leader.
Strelow also stood on the podium in an individual competition for the first time, having previously only achieved this in the relay. "I'm happy that it worked out with the podium," said the 26-year-old. It was the first double victory for the DSV men since January 8, 2017, when Simon Schempp won the mass start in Oberhof ahead of Erik Lesser. Third place now went to the Norwegian dominator Johannes Thingnes Bö (2/+25.0), who won 19 races in the previous season including the World Championships.
Benedikt Doll, who had taken a break on Saturday, also finished the race in the top ten in ninth place (2/+55.6). Johannes Kühn was 17th (2/+1:50.1), Philipp Nawrath (4/+2:41.4) finished 29th and David Zobel was 43rd (4/+3:58.4).
Earlier, the German women around Franziska Preuß had already caused a sensation. The 29-year-old finished second in the 15-kilometer individual event in Östersund, Sweden, after a perfect shooting performance. The winner Lisa Vittozzi from Italy (44:03.9 minutes/1 fault), winner of the small crystal globe in this discipline last winter, was only 0.1 seconds behind in the end.
Behind Preuß, Vanessa Voigt in third place (0/+10.1) and Sophia Schneider (1/+1:01.0 minutes) in fifth rounded off the strong DSV result. After the opening weekend, the biathlon circus remains in Östersund, next up are the first relays of the winter. The women lead the way on Wednesday, 24 hours later it's the men's turn (15:20/ZDF).
The success of Roman Rees and Justus Strelow in biathlon has brought excitement to the winter sports scene, as they deliver a promising start for German athletes. Their performances in Östersund, Sweden, saw Rees clinch his first World Cup victory and Strelow securing his first individual podium finish, contributing to the overall strength of German biathletes.
Source: www.ntv.de
