Gold for Germany: Denise Herrmann-Wick celebrates crazy sprint catch-up

Denise Herrmann-Wick wins gold at the Biathlon World Championships.

The German showed a splendid sprint in front of her home crowd in Oberhof.

Oberhof – Cheers for all winter sports fans at the Biathlon World Championships: Denise Herrmann-Wick wins gold in the sprint at the home World Championships in Oberhof.

Sweden's Hanna Öberg was beaten by 2.2 seconds.

Compatriot Linn Persson is third.

Denise Herrmann-Wick wins gold in the sprint at the Biathlon World Championships – a splendid final round

Herrmann-Wick shot clean in both stages and was unstoppable on the cross-country ski run.

In the final lap, the 34-year-old Olympic champion from Beijing caught up about ten seconds behind Öberg.

At the finish line, the joy knew no bounds.

"It's incredible.

I was really excited, I couldn't get my pulse down when I walked in.

The fact that I can conjure up such a race here at the home World Championships in the snow is indescribable," said Herrmann-Wick on ZDF about her coup in front of the home crowd.

"The euphoria was extremely high, I noticed that something was going on.

But you also have to get through it and you need luck.

It went well today.

I knew I had good legs.

It was enough.”

Biathlon World Cup: Herrmann-Wick is the first sprint world champion since Magdalena Neuner

For the individual Olympic champion, it was the second world title of her career after gold in the pursuit in 2019.

The former cross-country skier, who had already won two World Cup races this winter, is also one of the favorites in the pursuit on Sunday (1:25 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport). 

Herrmann-Wick is the first German sprint world champion since Magdalena Neuner, who won the 2012 home world championships in Ruhpolding.

For Herrmann-Wick it is already the seventh World Championship medal of her career.

At the start of the World Cup, she was only sixth in the German mixed relay on Wednesday.