World Cup in Anterselva
Denise Herrmann-Wick wins biathlon pursuit
Biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick won in Antholz. photo
© Christian Einecke/dpa
Successful dress rehearsal: Germany’s top biathlete gains self-confidence before the World Cup. Your colleagues are not quite in World Cup form. Johannes Thingnes Bö sets a record.
On the podium, biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick couldn’t stop cheering, later she let the euphoric fans celebrate her with a La Ola. With her tenth World Cup success, the 34-year-old made a declaration of war on the competition a good two and a half weeks before the home World Championships in Oberhof.
“To be at the top in Antholz is a huge thing. It’s one of my absolute favorite laps here. It was really great,” said the winner on Saturday after her triumph in the Antholz pursuit.
Mold building is going according to plan
Only two mistakes on the sometimes treacherous shooting range, plus the best run time at the height of 1600 meters, which is exhausting for the body – with a view to the season highlight in Thuringia from February 8th to 19th, her form seems to be going exactly according to plan. “Everything is fine, now it’s time to stay healthy. It will definitely be a great World Cup and we are extremely motivated as a team,” said Herrmann-Wick after her second win of the season and her third podium finish of the winter. Her successes are also the only ones for the women’s team so far.
In the men’s race, Roman Rees underlined his strong form and, like the day before, finished fourth in the sprint. The 29-year-old from Freiburg only had to run one penalty loop and was 1:34.3 minutes behind serial winner Johannes Thingnes Bö. “It was really good at the back,” said Rees, who is currently in the best shape of his career. With a clean shooting at the last shot, he laid the foundation for his renewed top result.
Bö sets a record
Norway’s superstar Bö, like Herrmann-Wick, was duly celebrated. The 29-year-old was the first biathlete to win six races in a row, it was his eleventh success of the current season and his 63rd World Cup triumph overall. Benedikt Doll in 12th, Justus Strelow in 16th and David Zobel in 20th made it into the top 20.
Her husband Thomas, who arrived on Friday evening, and his parents provided the extra portion of motivation for Herrmann-Wick. And they saw a strong Herrmann-Wick who, especially in the last shooting, kept her nerves in a direct duel with the sprint winner and local hero Dorothea Wierer and the Norwegian Marte Olsbu Röiseland and only had to turn an extra lap. “The last shooting was extremely strong, with the pressure. That impressed me very much,” said two-time Olympic champion and ZDF expert Laura Dahlmeier.
Herrmann-Wick prevailed in front of the Italian Lisa Vittozzi and the Swede Elvira Öberg. In the end, the individual Olympic champion had an eleven second lead over the flawless Vittozzi and 17.2 seconds over Öberg.
Strong race by Hanna Kebinger
Season debutant Hanna Kebinger was tenth and thus managed half the World Championship standard. “I can’t really believe it,” said the 25-year-old, who is now likely to be in the running for the sixth and last World Cup ticket. Janina Hettich-Walz confirmed her improving form in twelfth place.
When she returned to the World Cup after an illness of several weeks, Franziska Preuss had to settle for 34th place in the sprint race in South Tyrol after finishing 38th. Disappointed and without a word, the 28-year-old left the Südtirol Arena. Sophia Schneider was 21st and Vanessa Voigt 25th. On Saturday the races in South Tyrol end with the two relays. The women run at 11.45 a.m. (ZDF and Eurosport), the men at 2.30 p.m.