Norwegian empire disillusions German biathletes
Benedikt Doll and the German biathletes are unable to take advantage of their excellent starting position. The day after four Germans finished in the top 6, little comes together. Norway strikes back. Franziska Preuß just misses the podium in the women's race.
The empire strikes back: The German biathletes had to let the Norwegians take the lead again the day after their historically strong sprint performance. Despite starting positions one, three, four and six, the DSV skiers only had the role of well-wishers in the pursuit race. Philipp Horn was the best in the Scandinavian triple victory in seventh place, the previous day's winner Benedikt Doll even dropped back to 17th place with seven penalties.
In contrast, the women, who started much further back, were able to impress this time with three top eight places, with Franziska Preuß missing the podium by just the blink of an eye after her coronavirus infection. The six German men made a whopping 25 mistakes during Johannes Thingnes Bö's success. "The skis didn't want to run at all. I really had to torture myself. Nothing wanted to work at the shooting range. It was a struggle," Doll complained on ZDF.
But that's "just biathlon. Some days go by themselves and others don't want to." Doll had to let Bö pass directly with a mistake in the first shooting, and with two more in the second shooting, the top places were out of reach early on. Nawrath, Horn and Kühn, who had started in the top field, also made too many mistakes at the shooting range in supposedly good conditions. Horn (3 penalties/+1:01.4 minutes) was the best, dropping only three places. Kühn (4/+1:12.8) slipped from sixth to ninth, Nawrath (7/+2:00.0) from third to 18th, while Justus Strelow (1/+1:13.2) was the only one to make a significant leap forward from 18th to tenth. David Zobel (3/+2:52.8) finished in 31st place.
Preuß very satisfied with fourth place
Preuß, who started in seventh place, was able to impress again three days after her first negative corona test and managed a fantastic recovery after two prone misses with flawless standing shooting. "I'm a bit surprised at how well things are going again. I'm super happy," said the 29-year-old on ZDF: "The competition is so strong that you have to be happy about fourth place."
After a thrilling final lap, she was just 2.4 seconds off third-placed Marit Ishol Skogan of Norway (2 penalties/+1:13.6 minutes). Vanessa Voigt (0/+1:28.7) was the fastest of the day over the ten kilometers, moving up from 21st to 7th place, with Janina Hettich-Walz (1/+1:29.8) right behind her in eighth place. "That was proof today that I still have what it takes," said Voigt, who has struggled with her performances recently.
He was "very happy with our women, it was a good fight", praised coach Sverre Olsbu Röiseland after the French double victory of Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon. The German team will have to go "all-in" once again at the end of the year in the mass starts on Sunday (12.30 and 14.45/ZDF and Eurosport). Roman Rees, Sophia Schneider and Hanna Kebinger will only have the role of spectators in the 2025 World Championship venue due to infections. Some international athletes are also missing due to illness, including world champion Sebastian Samuelsson from Sweden and Lou Jeanmonnot from France, who tested positive for coronavirus.
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Winter sports take a toll: Despite the strong performance in the sprint, the German biathletes continued to struggle in the pursuit race, with seven penalties causing Benedikt Doll to drop back to 17th place. Meanwhile, in the women's biathlon, Franziska Preuß narrowly missed the podium in third place, showcasing the high level of competition in the event.
Source: www.ntv.de
