Title race in Nove Mesto
Biathlete Voigt fifth in the mass start at the World Cup
Vanessa Voigt came fifth in the mass start race. photo
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
At the end of the World Cup in the Czech Republic there is nothing to gain for the German biathletes. In the mass start, the flawless Vanessa Voigt came fifth. The title goes to a French woman again.
The German biathletes came away empty-handed at the end of the World Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. One day after winning bronze with the relay Vanessa Voigt came fifth as the best of a quartet in the mass start.
In the dominant victory of Frenchwoman Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, the 26-year-old was 1:29.7 minutes behind without any shooting errors. Silver went to Italian Lisa Vittozzi, who also made no mistakes, and bronze went to Lou Jeanmonnot (1 mistake).
Braisaz-Bouchet already won her fifth medal in the title fights, her teammate Julia Simon came away empty-handed this time. She also has a total of five precious metals, with four gold and one bronze she is the most successful participant at the highlight of the season. Janina Hettich-Walz secured the two medals for the German women in the Czech Republic with silver in the individual and on Saturday the relay with bronze.
The last German world champion in the mass start was Laura Dahlmeier in 2017, the last medal so far was won by Denise Herrmann-Wick in 2019. The German team alongside Voigt was a long way from that. Franziska Preuß (1 mistake) took eleventh place, Hettich-Walz (3) had no chance in 28th place, as did Selina Grotian (7), who crossed the finish line last.
After a flawless first shooting, Preuss and Voigt initially stayed in midfield. But there were already more than 20 seconds missing from the top. Former world champion Preuß had to miss out on the relay on Saturday because the Bavarian complained of a sore throat. Preuss was ready for action again in time for the World Cup final, but dropped out of the top 15 after a penalty in the second prone. Voigt from Thuringia did better and didn’t miss any of her 20 shots.