biathlon
Former world champion Doll leads the sprint line-up at the Biathlon World Championships
Taking part in the men’s sprint in Nove Mesto on Saturday: biathlete Benedikt Doll. photo
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
One day after the women, the German men will also start their first individual race at the Biathlon World Cup in the Czech Republic. Hopes rest on a veteran, but the favorites are different.
Former world champion Benedikt Doll receives at the Biathlon World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, his first chance to win a medal. The 33-year-old from the Black Forest leads the four-man German squad for the ten-kilometer race on Saturday (5:05 p.m./ARD and Eurosport).
The effects of a slight cold prevented us from starting the mixed relay on Wednesday. Philipp Nawrath, Johannes Kühn and Philipp Horn will also be competing in the first men’s individual competition, as the German Ski Association announced.
Big competition
Doll won his first and only world championship title in the sprint in 2017 and is eyeing a place on the podium in what could be his last world championship. However, the big favorites come from Norway. The defending champion is Johannes Thingnes Bö, who is also leading the overall World Cup this season.
Six Norwegians are at the top in the rankings, Doll is eighth. The veteran has already won two sprints this winter, but recently had some problems on the shooting range.
The 30-year-old Bayer Nawrath had already won the sprint at the start of the season in Östersund and slipped into the yellow jersey of the World Cup leader after his surprising first career victory. But he had to give it back quickly.
The Thuringian Horn, who is competing in his first World Championship race in around four years, was nominated somewhat surprisingly. In his last World Championship sprint in Antholz, the now 29-year-old finished eighth in 2020.
Justus Strelow, who delivered a strong race at the start of the mixed relay (5th), and Roman Rees were not taken into account and will have to hope for appearances in the rest of the World Cup until February 18th.