Winter sports
Biathlete Doll writes off World Cup medal in pursuit race
Only came 13th over ten kilometers in Nove Mesto: Benedikt Doll at the finish. photo
© Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
After the bad sprint, the German biathletes at the World Cup are all about damage limitation. In the pursuit, the men have little chance of winning any precious metal, but they do have a teammate.
After his disappointing sprint Benedikt Doll will no longer win a medal in the next difficult challenge at the Biathlon World Championships in the Czech Republic.
“I’ll make sure I make the most of it as a chaser. But to be honest, the top positions are already taken,” said the 33-year-old after finishing 13th over ten kilometers. Seven years after his World Championship title in this discipline, Doll had no chance in the fight for the top due to poor ski material and two penalty laps. The World Championship pursuit race is already on the program on Sunday (5:05 p.m./ARD and Eurosport).
Doll goes into the cross-country ski trail 1:41 minutes behind sprint world champion Sturla Holm Laegreid from Norway, and the Black Forester also has to catch up to bronze by more than 1:20 minutes. A lot would have to happen in the strong men’s field to make it onto the podium under these conditions. His teammates Johannes Kühn, Philipp Nawrath and Philipp Horn start behind Doll. The Thuringian Horn was the weakest German in his first World Cup sprint in four years, over two minutes behind Laegreid on Saturday evening in 25th place.
Franziska Preuß previously had a better chance of winning her first German medal in the Czech Republic in the women’s race (2.30 p.m./ARD and Eurosport). At 1:05 minutes, the gap to Julia Simon from France is also enormous, but it is only 24 seconds to bronze. “I’m looking forward to the pursuer, but I have to leave the crowbar at home. That has never worked before,” said the 29-year-old Preuß and announced a controlled race. In the sprint on Friday she was the best of her team, sixth.