Nawrath thunders through the German biathlon success lane

Another German at the top of the podium: Things are going really well for the biathletes, Philipp Nawrath is in no way inferior to his team colleagues with his first World Cup victory. He also takes over the yellow jersey from Roman Rees.

Roman Rees had long been leaning on his poles in the finish area in his yellow jersey, completely disappointed, when Philipp Nawrath continued the German biathlon fairytale in the freezer in Östersund: the 30-year-old triumphed sensationally in the 10-kilometre sprint after a flawless shooting and took the second victory for the German men in the second individual race. At the finish line, he clenched his fist and let out a loud cry of joy in minus 15 degrees.

As an additional reward for his victory, he also took over the overall World Cup lead from Rees. "The emotions are indescribable," said Nawrath with a broad grin on ZDF: "I tried to plan the race well. It was difficult with the temperatures. It's madness. I still can't believe it." After no German had previously worn the yellow jersey for 15 years, there are now three DSV athletes at the top of the rankings. That makes him "proud as the oldest member of the team", said Benedikt Doll appreciatively.

"Winter dream"

Nawrath had never stood on the podium in the World Cup before. As usual, the strong Bavarian started the race with bib number 51 extremely briskly, but unlike often before, he also remained cool at the shooting range. It was only the sixth time in the World Cup that he remained clear. "It seems like we all have to turn 30 to be at the top," said Nawrath with a wink towards Rees, who celebrated his first victory last Sunday.

"We were already a strong team before," said new head coach Uros Velepec: "Now we have a new energy, it just fits." It was "a winter dream, an absolute fairytale", enthused ZDF expert Laura Dahlmeier. If things don't go well for someone, "there's always someone else in this team", added Sven Fischer.

"It was an honor in yellow"

So it was bearable that Rees had to make do after his infection. Despite five hits, he was already well behind after the prone shooting, and then the man from the Black Forest made an absolutely unusual three mistakes in the standing position. "It was an honor in yellow," said Rees: "The power wasn't there after the illness, so the recovery for the standing shooting didn't come as well. It was a bad result."

Justus Strelow fared better on the track after the forced break in the relay, and he only made one mistake in the standing position at the shooting range. However, it was just not enough for the opening runner-up to take the yellow jersey in 15th place, 1:17.4 minutes behind. Nawrath is one point behind him in the overall standings, with Rees in third place. Johannes Kühn (1 penalty/+57.2 seconds) in eighth place and Doll (1/+58.5) in tenth place also impressed in the sprint.

The two pursuit races (14:00 and 16:00/ZDF and Eurosport) are scheduled for Sunday at the end of the World Cup in Sweden. Like Nawrath, Franziska Preuß will be competing in the yellow jersey of the overall World Cup leader. The 29-year-old will start the race in fourth place, 18 seconds behind the leader, and Vanessa Voigt is also in a good position in fifth place.