Winter sports
Biathlete Doll returns with second place in Oslo
Came in second place at the mass start in Oslo: Benedikt Doll. photo
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/archive image
Benedikt Doll made it onto the podium again shortly before the end of his career. One day after the weakest competition of his career, the biathlete came second in Oslo.
One day after the worst race of his biathlon career Benedikt Doll returned with a second place in the mass start in Oslo.
The 33-year-old even seemed to have more potential, but two late shooting errors made his third win of the season impossible. After 15 kilometers, Doll had to admit defeat only to the Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid (1 mistake), 6.4 seconds behind. Third place went to the Swede Jesper Nelin (1).
Doll, who will end his career at the end of March, did much better at the beginning than he did on Friday. The Black Forester was more than nine minutes behind after seven shooting errors in the individual; 74th place was his weakest position in around 13 years in the World Cup. “It really stunk for me, but it’s going to continue and I’d rather look forward,” said Doll on ZDF: “I had a lot more fun today and I’m super happy with second place. It can continue like this.”
Flawless prone shooting
In the mass start, Doll remained clean in both prone stages and was initially in third place. Another five hits put him in second place, just 0.4 seconds behind Tarjei Bö. Although he made a mistake on the last trip to the shooting range, he fought for second place against Nelin thanks to a strong final lap on the cross-country ski trail.
The second best German was Philipp Nawrath (1) in sixth place, Justus Strelow was the only German without a shooting error and came eighth. Johannes Kühn (5) was 19th and was unable to take part in the fight for the top places. Roman Rees (4/24th) and Philipp Horn (5/25th) ended up even further back.
The German women had previously disappointed, Sophia Schneider was the best in 18th place when the Swiss Lena Häcki-Groß won. At the end of the World Cup there are two mixed competitions on the program on Sunday.