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Denise Herrmann
Photo: Anders Wiklund / TT / imago images / TT
Denise Herrmann gave the German biathlon team a successful start to the Olympic winter.
The 32-year-old finished third in the individual race over 15 kilometers at the World Cup start in Östersund.
Herrmann was 1: 23.0 minutes behind the faultless individual world champion Marketa Davidova from the Czech Republic and the Austrian Lisa Theresa Hauser (1 / + 1: 17.7 minutes) with only one shooting error.
For Herrmann it was the 15th podium in her career.
She has already made the qualification for the Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th) perfect.
»I am happy with the start.
The running was a bit tough, but that's what I expected.
One mistake annoys me, but I feel stable when shooting, «said Herrmann on ZDF.
The second best biathlete of the German Ski Association (DSV) was surprisingly Anna Weidel at minus 8.5 degrees.
After an impeccable shooting performance (+2: 28.6 minutes), the 25-year-old secured ninth place and half the DSV norm for the Olympics (once top 8, twice top 15) - just like Vanessa Voigt (1 / + 2: 51.8 minutes) in twelfth place.
For Weidel and Voigt it was the best World Cup result of their careers.
The start did not go quite as well for Franziska Preuss, who had finished third in the overall World Cup last winter.
The 27-year-old had to be content with four shooting errors (+3: 28.3 minutes) in 23rd place.
bka / sid
