winter sports
Upheaval in the German biathlon? The second guard knocks
Biathlete David Zobel zeroing in. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
David Zobel, Justus Strelow, Anna Weidel, Sophia Schneider. Not all German biathlon fans will say something about the names. But the second row moves up and puts pressure on them.
Even the top stars of the biathlon scene were amazed. With three podium finishes in four races, the German skiers have had the best start to the season since winter 2015/2016.
“I’m very impressed, especially by the young people. The whole team is really good,” said French overall World Cup winner and two-time Beijing Olympic champion Quentin Fillon Maillet. And Norway’s superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö, double winner at the start in Kontiolahti, Finland, also paid tribute: “It’s looking very good for the Germans.”
After the resignations of Erik Lesser, Simon Schempp and Arnd Peiffer, only Benedikt Doll (32) remains from the golden generation, but the end of his career is in sight. Many wondered what would happen without the big three. But so far everything seems to be going in the right direction, the second row with people like David Zobel (26) and Justus Strelow (25) is moving up.
This also applies to the women, where in Anna Weidel (26) and Sophia Schneider (25) two inexperienced in the World Cup knocked on the front. And Vanessa Voigt, also only in her second World Cup winter from the start, underlined her performances from the previous season right away in Kontiolahti.
Hermann-Wick is happy about the pressure from below
“We have seen a lot of great results. Above all from athletes who have not drawn attention to themselves with top results in recent years, who have made the connection to the world’s best,” said the new sports director Felix Bitterling. “It does something for the team, in a very positive way.”
It is very important that such good results come so early in the season. “Especially for those in the team who are not used to such top results. They start to believe in it,” said Bitterling. And a good start gives you self-confidence, especially with a view to the home World Cup in Oberhof in February.
The work with the two new assistant coaches Uros Velepec from Slovenia (men) and Sverre Olsbu Röiseland from Norway (women) is also well received and seems to be bearing fruit immediately. “It shows that we did a lot of things right,” said Rees, who is third in the overall standings. Velepec was also satisfied: “This week was very good, better than we expected. We are happy but it’s a long season. I hope we can continue.”
Anna Weidel is already benefiting from working with Röiseland. “I’ve never experienced such a good atmosphere as now. It’s fun with Sverre. He brings cool input and he complements Kristian Mehringer well,” said the 26-year-old.
Denise Herrmann-Wick is also happy about the pressure from below. “It’s nice to see that the young girls, especially in their mid-20s, are making good connections. You could see in training that they’re hot and want to run. They’re conveying that extremely well,” said the 32-year-old Years oldest in the team: “We hope that it will continue like this,” says the Olympic champion. The next chance to prove it is Thursday in Hochfilzen, Austria.