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Julia Simon and Denise Herrmann-Wick at the finish
Photo:
Matthew Schrader/AP
Denise Herrmann-Wick won her second medal at the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof.
Two days after winning the sprint, the 34-year-old Saxon won silver in the pursuit.
Herrmann-Wick had four penalties and was beaten only by Julia Simon of France (1 penalty), 27.0 seconds back.
Bronze went to Norway's Marte Olsbu Röiseland (3).
“It was really tough today.
It was a cool race and right from the start the atmosphere is really, really cool,” said Herrmann-Wick on ZDF.
"In the end I wanted to score, but I got the short end of the stick." It was "not that easy" given the enormous strain.
"I gave it my all again on the final lap," she said.
But the exertion didn't bring her close enough to Simon.
"I can see that the legs need a little rest," said Herrmann-Wick and praised the German fans: "That was the peak of the atmosphere."
Herrmann-Wick had the chance to win her second World Championship title at the Rennsteig up until the last shooting, but then had two penalties.
From a German point of view, Laura Dahlmeier last won medals in sprint and pursuit at the same World Cup in Östersund in 2019.
Herrmann-Wick has already won the pursuit title in the same title fights, and the former cross-country skier has now won a total of eight World Championship medals.
For the German team it was the second medal in the fourth competition in Oberhof.
Sophia Schneider (4) in fifth place and Hanna Kebinger (2) in eighth place ensured a strong team result.
In fog in front of more than 23,000 spectators, Herrmann-Wick left the track two seconds ahead of sprint runner-up Hanna Öberg.
There, the two leaders had to do a penalty loop immediately after the first shooting.
Herrmann-Wick convinced again in the cross-country ski run
Öberg took the lead ahead of Herrmann-Wick, followed by Linn Person, who was third in the sprint, and Simon, the overall World Cup leader.
Schneider, who surprisingly finished seventh in the first World Championship race of her career on Friday, also held up well as an interim fifth after shooting clean.
On the difficult route with the dreaded Birxsteig as the steepest climb, a tight race developed in which the front runners pushed together and Herrmann-Wick was in the lead again before the second shooting.
Because Öberg had to go into the penalty loop twice and Persson even three in diffuse light, the Saxon clearly pulled away without a blunder and was 23 seconds ahead of Simon.
In the cross-country ski run, the German showed her strong form and extended the lead to about half a minute before the first standing stage.
This was gone after the second shooting error because Simon cleared all the targets for the third time and just took the lead.
She was followed by Norwegian Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold in third and Schneider, who was strong again, in fourth.
After another fast lap, Herrmann-Wick went into the decisive fourth stage with a narrow lead.
Two penalties destroyed all gold dreams and Simon was able to secure victory, but the Ruhpolding native was happy about silver at the finish.
ara/dpa