Status: 02/10/2023 3:21 p.m
Denise Herrmann-Wick provided the first German moment of gold at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof. In the sprint on Friday (02/10/2023) she lived up to her role as favorite and secured the world title. For her it was the second gold medal in the international title fights in her career.
Thanks to a flawless performance, Denise Herrmann-Wick secured the sprint title at the home World Championships in Oberhof. In a tight decision, the woman from Oberwiesenthal prevailed after 7.5 kilometers and two shooting bouts ahead of Hanna Öberg from Sweden. Third place went to Öberg’s compatriot Linn Persson.
“It’s unbelievable. Today I was really excited and I couldn’t even get my pulse down when I was running in. I really had to fight extremely hard to stay with myself,” said the beaming Herrmann-Wick afterwards on ZDF. This is her second time at the top of the podium at a World Cup. In 2019 she had won gold in the pursuit in Östersund (Sweden). But winning gold at a home World Cup “cannot be described in words,” the 34-year-old continued.
Head coach Mehringer “proud” of the performance
Not only Herrmann-Wick was happy about the victory, you could also see the relief of her trainer. “Of course, the whole team is proud. Denise went into the race with a certain ease and a certain security. We are super happy. Also about the performance of the other athletes,” said Kristian Mehringer, the head coach of the German women.
Schneider is a strong seventh in his World Cup debut
Sophia Schneider also made a great appearance. In her first World Championship appearance, she finished seventh (+57.6 seconds) despite one penalty in standing, her best result in her career. “It was really great fun today,” said the 25-year-old afterwards: “I was pretty relaxed and still had the right tension. I tried to absorb everything positively. It was an extremely cool day.”
Hanna Kebinger also made it into the top 20 in 17th place (1 penalty/+1:15.9 minutes). Janina Hettich-Walz finished 23rd (1/+1:33.1 min.). The sprint was a bit disappointing for local hero Vanessa Voigt. Born a few kilometers from Oberhof, Schmalkalderin had to settle for 41st place (+2:05.7 min.) after two penalties.
Herrman-Wick fast on the track and safe when shooting
After only a few starters, it was clear that the World Championship title required an almost flawless shooting performance. Herrmann-Wick started the race with start number 24 and came to the first shooting with the fastest time up to that point. There, the World Cup leader took a little more time in the sprint between shots, but hit all the targets. After another fast lap, she increased her rhythm a little while standing and was able to score five more goals. Now she had to give it her all again in the last round in order to be able to make up more seconds in the fight against her opponents.
Denise Herrmann-Wick at the shooting range
Image: getty
Because the Swede Hanna Öberg also shot twice and had a lead of almost nine and a half seconds before the final lap. But she couldn’t keep up with Herrmann-Wick’s pace and lost second by second on the track. Germany’s flagship ski hunter stood in the target area and looked intently at the scoreboard. Eventually, Öberg was 2.2 seconds behind at the finish.
Source: sportschau.de