Status: 02/18/2023 4:15 p.m
The expectations of the relay races were high – and the German biathlon women delivered at the home world championships in Oberhof. The quartet ran to silver on Saturday. A shooting error at the last shooting prevented the gold medal.
The German women’s biathlon relay won silver at the home world championships in Oberhof. The quartet of Vanessa Voigt, Hanna Kebinger, Sophia Schneider and Denise Herrmann-Wick only had to admit defeat to Italy by 24.7 seconds on Saturday (02/18/2023). Sweden came in third (+55.7 seconds).
decision in the final stop
The victorious Italian relay team with Samuela Comola, Dorothea Wierer, Hannah Auchenthaler and Lisa Vittozzi finished in 1:14:39.7 with only two spare rounds and no penalty. The German women allowed six spare rounds. Ironically, a shooting error in the final standing stage by Denise Herrmann-Wick prevented the potential gold medal. Compared to the other medal candidates from Sweden, France or Norway, who had to do two, one or even four penalty loops, the Germans were spared the 150-metre extra loop.
“We work all year for the relay medal”
“One team, one dream,” said Kebinger happily after the race and winning her first world championship medal in the sports show. “I was able to enjoy the last meters a bit. The girls did a great preparatory work. I’m overjoyed that we made it here today”, cheered Herrmann-Wick, who in the sprint and the pursuit has already won two World Championship medals. “The team medal is the one we work for all year. We’ve dared to look out of the window before. We didn’t let ourselves be unsettled,” said Herrmann-Wick, referring to the strong winds, which were particularly strong in the morning blew through the biathlon stadium on the Rennsteig.
Voigt: Flawless start
Compared to Windblown Men’s Race the women had better wind conditions. The German start runner Vanessa Voigt, who did not manage to place in the top 15 in the individual races of the World Championships, took advantage of this and ran a strong race. The 25-year-old from Oberhof was flawless on the shooting range – apart from Voigt in the relay starting field, only the Italian Samuela Comola was able to do this – and kept the German relay close to the podium. In fifth place, 12.8 seconds behind the leading Swede Linn Persson, Voigt handed over to Hanna Kebinger.
“I’m super happy with the race, especially after the last few days, which were very difficult for me,” Voigt said with relief after the race in the sports show. “I showed the critics who doubted my start in the season that I can do well at position one.” With the sixth best time overall, Voigt was 21.4 seconds slower than Persson – but she partially made up the gap in strong shooting.
Kebinger: Good nerves in the standing position
The second German runner, Hanna Kebinger, had almost closed the gap by her first shooting. While the top three Annais Chevalier-Bouchet from France, Dorothea Wierer and Anna Magnusson from Sweden shot clean, the German had to reload twice. She rejoined the race, 39.5 seconds back from the lead, coming to standing 1:02.7 back.
The wind had picked up a little now and the field was rearranged. Chevalier-Bouchet, Magnusson and Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold had one, two and three penalties. Kebinger, on the other hand, hit everything and moved up to third place. At the second change, the 25-year-old, who finished eighth in pursuit at the World Championships in Oberhof and achieved the best result of her career, was 42.8 seconds behind leader Dorothea Wierer and 21.4 seconds behind Chevalier-Bouchet.
“I didn’t realize that they had already shot penalties in front,” said Kebinger after her World Cup relay premiere, looking at her second shooting in the sports show. “I tried not to get distracted like in singles and to be focused. I just tried to get the shots in.”
Schneider: Change as second
Sophia Schneider even brought the German team to second place at their first world championship. The 25-year-old was confident on the shooting range in prone with one spare and standing with two spares. On the track, she was able to keep up with the top runners with the third best time, taking around 19 seconds off the strong Swede Elvira Öberg.
“Our conditions were better than the men’s, it was really manageable,” said Schneider after the race in the sports show. “I could have scored the zero if I had shot better. It wasn’t the wind for me, it was shooting errors. But I was also a bit nervous,” said Schneider after the race in the sports show.
While Schneider and the leading Italian Hannah Auchenthaller shot confidently, the competition fell behind. France’s Chloe Chevalier had five reloads and Norway’s Ida Lien went into the penalty loop. At the third exchange, Schneider handed over to the German anchor Denise Herrmann-Wick in second place, just 5.6 seconds behind Italy. Sweden in third place was already 32.6 seconds behind.
Herrmann-Wick: One shooting error too many
Herrmann-Wick and Italy’s anchor Lisa Vittozzi fought a gripping duel for gold and silver. The two cleared everything lying down, the decision was made at the last shooting. Fast shooter Vittozzi cleared everything in 20.7 seconds, Herrmann-Wick missed once, had to reload twice for this mistake and went back on track with 31.2 seconds. The gap was too big for gold. Herrmann-Wick ran confidently to the acclaimed silver medal. “I noticed that she pulled through properly. I had good legs, but the spares took up too much time,” Herrmann-Wick explained after the race in the sports show.
Source: sportschau.de