biathlon
“It’s a huge shame”: Mistakes cost Preuß a podium place in Ruhpolding
Franziska Preuß had to go into the penalty loop twice during the sprint in Ruhpolding. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
The home win in Ruhpolding is within reach for Franziska Preuß. But two penalties throw the biathlete far back. The best German in the sprint is Janina Hettich-Walz, a debutant.
Preuß was on course for victory in her adopted hometown until she missed the last two shots and after two penalty laps in Chiemgau had no chance of a podium finish.
“A mistake happens quickly. But when the second one comes, I have to be annoyed with myself,” she said. Now coach Sverre Olsbu Röiseland will probably give us a lecture: “He’ll be really angry if we miss the last shot, and I’ll probably be able to listen to something about that.”
The Bavarian was 51.9 seconds behind winner Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold from Norway after 7.5 kilometers. In the end, Preuss no longer really cared that she might have won without a mistake. “You don’t have to think like that in biathlon, then you could be annoyed at every race,” said Preuß and tried a typical saying when chances were missed: “Would have, would have – bicycle chain.”
Hettich-Walz ranked sixth best German
Behind Tandrevold, the Swede Mona Brorsson came second ahead of the Italian Lisa Vittozzi. Janina Hettich-Walz crossed the finish line in sixth place as the best German. Just like the top trio, she remained flawless at the shooting range.
“I take the positive thing with me, that was the running, I felt very confident in prone shooting. The first three standing shots were also good,” said Preuß. With her two mistakes, she perhaps shot a little too quickly, she then analyzed: “Then a mistake happens quickly. But you quickly look forward again.”
Namely the final pursuit on Sunday (12.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport). There Preuß has the chance for her fourth podium finish this winter. She has already been second three times, last week she was only 4.4 seconds away from victory in her first home game in Oberhof. At the start of the season in Östersund it was even closer, at just 0.1 and 0.3 seconds, before a corona infection forced Preuß to take a break and she lost the yellow jersey for the lead in the overall World Cup without a fight.
Tannheimer causes a big surprise
However, the most experienced ski hunter in the German team did not let this unsettle her and continued to show strong form despite the two mistakes. Just like Julia Tannheimer, who caused a big surprise by finishing 15th in the first World Cup race of her career. The 18-year-old from Ulm hit all ten shots and was also able to impress on the cross-country ski trail. “The race was really great. I set off so quickly because I was so cheered on,” said Tannheimer: “I was really pushed by the fact that the fans were cheering. That was really cool.”
The reward for the strong performance was the fulfillment of half the standard for the World Championships in just under a month in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Until then, some of her teammates will have to improve significantly again. Vanessa Voigt (2 errors) only made it to 36th place at the home game in the Chiemgau Alps, Sophia Schneider (2) finished 39th, Hanna Kebinger (2) had to be content with 52nd place.