Olympia 2022: Biathlete Benedikt Doll misses the medal in the individual – Fillon Maillet wins gold

Benedikt Doll blew hard and set his sights on the next German biathlon surprise after Denise Herrmann’s sensational Olympic victory. Up until the last standing stage, the 31-year-old was on course for a medal in the individual over 20 km, national coach Mark Kirchner was tensely involved at the shooting range in Zhangjiakou – but Doll’s second minute penalty shattered all dreams.

In sixth place, the former sprint world champion from the Black Forest was 36 seconds off the podium. “I don’t really know whether I should cry or be happy now,” said Doll on “ARD”, but he was more concerned with his first mistake in the prone position: “Of course it was a good race, but the placement can you buy very little.”

Roman Rees also showed a strong race with just one missed shot and placed as the second best German, directly behind Doll. Johannes Kühn and Erik Lesser, on the other hand, were disappointing with ranks 51 and 67.

The French overall World Cup leader Quentin Fillon Maillet (2 penalty minutes) won his first Olympic gold medal ahead of the clean-shooting surprise man Anton Smolski (Belarus/+14.8 seconds). Bronze went to Norway’s star Johannes Thingnes Bö (2/+31.1).

Doll and Co. cannot gild the Herrmann coup

Herrmann’s fantastic storm to gold was still shining on Tuesday – the coup should also give the men a good boost. And after the acclaimed Olympic champion had toasted with a “small glass of sparkling wine” in the Olympic Village, Doll, Lesser and Co. also had their sights set on a surprise.

“The men are in a good mood anyway, the mood is great, we are very self-confident,” said Bernd Eisenbichler, sports director of the biathletes in the German Ski Association (DSV), after Herrmann’s triumph: “Of course, such a result gives even more self-confidence.”

While Doll and Rees proved this in good conditions with an absolutely controllable wind and drew a lot of courage for the upcoming tasks, their two teammates experienced a race to forget.

Kühn and Lesser goof up at the shooting range

Johannes Kühn, who celebrated his first World Cup victory this season in the Hochfilzen sprint, had six of his 20 targets stopped. “The race was practically over after ten minutes,” said the sprint winner from Hochfilzen, who missed three targets in the first prone stage.

Lesser, who was the best German in singles at the last two Winter Games and even won silver in Sochi in 2014, performed brilliantly in prone. But he shot five tickets while standing.

The biathletes can now look forward to several rest days. The women around Olympic champions Herrmann and Franziska Preuß are aiming for the next surprise in the sprint on Friday, for the men on Saturday (both live at 10:00 a.m. CET on free TV on Eurosport 1 and on Eurosport on Joyn!) the shortest of all races on the program.

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(with SID)