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Want to break the Norwegian dominance: the Swede Hanna Öberg
Photo: Johanna Lundberg / imago images / Bildbyran
The Biathlon World Championships will take place in Pokljuka, Slovenia, from February 10 to 21.
Opened on Tuesday evening with a digital celebration without athletes and spectators, the action on the track and at the shooting range will start on Wednesday: The mixed relay (3 p.m., ARD and Eurosport) will kick off.
But who are the favorites - and who has outsider chances?
An overview.
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Røiseland, December 2020 in Hochfilzen
Photo:
Adelsberger / imago images / Eibner press photo
Marte Olsbu Røiseland
She was the historic high-flyer at the World Championships in Antholz last year with five gold medals - and this year the 30-year-old Norwegian is the big favorite wherever she competes.
Røiseland came here as the overall World Cup leader.
Only in eight races was she not on the podium this winter.
Occasional mistakes at the shooting range can often run out in the cross-country ski run - especially in the typical strong final lap, where the competition often runs out of strength.
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Tiril Eckhoff, in mid-January in Oberhof
Photo:
Matthias Schrader / AP
Tiril Eckhoff
Only the competition from their own team speaks against further titles for Røiseland.
A Norwegian is also in second place in the overall World Cup - Eckhoff, who is also 30, is only eight points apart from her teammate.
The comparatively small athlete at 1.63 meters also makes up some penalty laps on the route, the difficult route from Pokljuka at an altitude of around 1300 meters could meet her.
What speaks against her: Last year in Antholz, as a top favorite, she couldn't cope with the pressure at all.
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Hanna Öberg, in training with Pokljuka
Photo: JOEL MARKLUND / imago images / Bildbyran
Hanna Öberg
While the Swede's Olympic gold in 2018 was a surprise, Öberg has long been one of the world's best.
At just 25, she is the youngest among the medal candidates.
Öberg is one of the strongest shooters in the women's field with an average of 89 percent hit performance, especially in the individual and mass starts you can count on her.
Small drawback: The Swede has to do without her successful German trainer Johannes Lukas in Pokljuka, who is missing after a shoulder operation.
The reason for the injury was a fall on the stairs at the World Cup in Antholz.
Her sister Elvira is also in the squad - the 21-year-old was already good for surprises this winter.
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Lisa Theresa Hauser
Photo: Adelsberger / imago images / Eibner Pressefoto
Lisa Theresa Hauser and Dorothea Wierer
Dorothea Wierer originally planned to resign after the previous season and the home World Cup in Antholz.
The fact that the 30-year-old from Italy decided to carry on seems to have been only partly a good idea due to her fluctuating performance.
Now in fourth place, she will not be able to repeat her 2020 overall World Cup victory.
But she always has a chance of a medal with her rapid-fire inserts - as does Lisa Theresa Hauser, who has already been on the podium five times in 2021.
The 27-year-old Austrian is looked after by the former German national coach Gerald Hönig, among others.
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Franziska Preuß, in December 2020 in Hochfilzen
Photo: Oryk Haist / imago images
Franziska Preuss
Tormented by injuries, illnesses and infections throughout her career, the 26-year-old seems to benefit from the strict hygiene measures in the Biathlon World Cup this winter.
So far, Preuss has come through the winter healthy and is the most consistent in the German team.
If she gets her occasional weakness in standing shooting under control, there is a medal for her too - if not in the individual, then at least as the final runner in the German relay.
The German Ski Association (DSV) has given four to five medals as a goal for the team.
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Johannes Bø, December 2020 in Kontiolahti
Photo: Kevin Voigt / DeFodi Images / Getty Images
Johannes Thingnes Bø
Even with the men, there is once again no way around the Norwegians.
The 27-year-old Bø is first and foremost again the one to beat.
Bø is close to his third overall World Cup victory.
However, in addition to the outstanding running form, old weaknesses believed to have been adopted had crept in at the shooting range.
He had problems especially when standing.
Nevertheless, podiums would be difficult to imagine without Bø this winter - especially since there is also a second one.
Brother Tarjei, the older of the two, is third in the overall World Cup.
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Sturla Holm Lægreid, December 2020 in Hochfilzen
Photo: Jasmin Walter / imago images / GEPA pictures
Sturla Holm Lægreid
And behind - surprise - another Norwegian.
Lægreid can safely be described as the big surprise of the winter so far.
The 23-year-old not only asserted himself in the strong, very selective team after hardly having been used the year before.
He has already celebrated four individual victories.
At the shooting range he is the best among the top runners with a hit rate of 92 percent (for comparison: Johannes Bø is 85 percent).
Incidentally, there is also a fellow countryman: With Johannes Dale, the top four in the overall World Cup stand are complete - purely Norwegian medals are by no means excluded and have already occurred this winter.
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Quentin Fillon Maillet, December 2020 in Kontiolahti
Photo: Kevin Voigt / DeFodi images / Getty Images
Quentin Fillon Maillet
Another team also wants to have a say in the medal award: the French team, above all 28-year-old Maillet.
After the resignation of long-time dominator Martin Fourcade after last season, he was able to break the Norwegian dominance at least occasionally.
He is still missing an individual world championship medal.
The chances for non-Norwegian gold should still be greatest in the season.
The wider circle
It could at least work with a French relay gold if the team's greatest talent, 25-year-old Émilien Jacquelin, took the preparation seriously.
After gold and bronze in Antholz, he has not yet been able to fulfill high hopes this season.
On good days he is still one of the broader favorites.
The Swede Sebastian Samuelsson (23) and Austria's Lukas Hofer (31) and, from a German point of view, Arnd Peiffer, should have outsider opportunities.
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