No podium places for German biathletes in Oberhof
Created: 01/08/2022Updated: 01/08/2022, 3:44 PM
Erik Lesser from Germany hurries back onto the track after the shooting.
© Hendrik Schmidt / dpa
The German mixed relay missed the podium at the biathlon home game in Oberhof just like the duo in the single mixed.
The ranks six and seven do not really satisfy anyone in Thuringia.
Oberhof - Vanessa Hinz tried to see sixth place at the Olympic dress rehearsal as positive. “We're not far from the podium,” said the biathlete after the race with the mixed relay on Saturday in Oberhof, Thuringia. The German quartet with Roman Rees, Benedikt Doll, Vanessa Voigt and Hinz was only 9.4 seconds short of third after a total of six spare rounds. The deficit to the victorious world champion Norway was a whopping 2: 10.7 minutes in the Thuringian Forest. Belarus came in second, ahead of France, which was far from being the best.
When it comes to the first medals at the Winter Games in Beijing in exactly four weeks, a completely different team should also be at the start for the German Ski Association. Denise Herrmann and Johannes Kühn, among others, were not deployed on the Rennsteig, Franziska Preuss was absent due to a foot injury. The 27-year-old could return to the World Cup at the second home game in Ruhpolding next week. Like Herrmann, she is seen as a hope for a medal, Kühn is currently Germany's strongest and most consistent men's ski hunter.
The trio was also able to watch the veterans Erik Lesser (33) and Franziska Hildebrand (34) get a chance in the non-Olympic single mixed, but only finished seventh after taking the lead.
The latest biathlete competition is not part of the Winter Games program in February.
Russia secured victory in Oberhof ahead of Austria and Ukraine.
Lesser, who qualified for China on Friday, and Hildebrand, who has not yet met the norm, made eleven spare rounds together and were 1: 25.7 minutes behind at the finish.
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A few hours earlier, starting runner Rees had once again shown a strong performance at the start of the large mixed relay over 4 x 7.5 kilometers.
One day after his fifth place in the sprint, he only had one spare and handed over to Doll in third.
The conditions on the Rennsteig were significantly better than the day before.
With less wind, warmer temperatures and no fog or snowfall, the favored Norwegians set the pace from the start.
Doll needed three extra cartridges to shoot, but stayed in third position.
"The race wasn't perfect, but I felt really good running," said Doll at the finish: "That makes me positive." But three spare rounds are two too many in a race like this, remarked the ex-world champion from the Black Forest.
In her home in Thuringia, Voigt only made a mistake at the shooting range, but could not keep up on the trail and fell back to fourth.
“You could see that I have a few deficits on the track.
But I knew that beforehand, ”said 24-year-old Voigt.
Final runner Hinz could not do anything more forward.
There Norway ran safely towards the next victory.
The brothers Tarjei and Johannes Thingnes Bö, together with Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Marte Olsbu Röiseland, indicated what to expect from them in China in a month.
There were also no other winning runners in Sturla Holm Laegreid or Tiril Eckhoff.
The French also spared some of the stars around the overall World Cup leader Emilien Jacquelin and still made it onto the podium.
dpa
