World Championships in Oberhof
Bold eighth in the World Cup sprint – Norwegians dominate in Oberhof
The Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö became Sprint World Champion. photo
© Martin Schutt/dpa
Even under difficult conditions, Johannes Thingnes Bö becomes Sprint World Champion in Oberhof. The German biathletes cannot intervene in the medal fight. Things are going badly for Doll in particular.
On another pitch-black day for Benedikt Doll, Johannes Kühn halfway saved the honor of the German biathletes with his best race of the season.
While medal hopeful Doll finished 55th without a chance at the home World Championships in Oberhof with five shooting errors, Kühn showed a decent performance in the dense fog in eighth place. In the fight for the sprint medals, however, the hosts didn’t have a chance one day after gold for Denise Herrmann-Wick.
The 31-year-old Kühn from Reit in Winkl had to go into the penalty loop in front of 14,300 spectators and was 1:04.8 minutes behind the victorious Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö. The 29-year-old Beijing Olympic champion had just one penalty and relegated his older brother Tarjei Bö (0) to second place with a lead of 14.8 seconds. Another Norwegian took bronze in Sturla Holm Laegreid (1). “It’s the best feeling, we’re the best family, the best brothers and the best athletes,” said winner Bö.
Norwegian too strong
“If you exclude the Norwegian team, I’ve done quite well,” said Kühn, who hadn’t even made it into the top ten this winter: “Basically, I’m relieved that it finally worked out in the Sprint. I had one of my best performances at the home World Cup, so I’m very happy.”
Also in the pursuit on Sunday (3.30 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport) it is the Scandinavians who have to be beaten. In Johannes Dale, the fourth-placed rider also came from Norway. The flawless Justus Strelow, who finished twelfth in the first World Championship race of his career, is the second-best German, 1:14.6 minutes behind, in the hunt for gusts and the like. “I had two good series and gave everything on the track. The atmosphere was outstanding,” said Strelow after his successful World Championship debut.
Medal candidate and ex-world champion Benedikt Doll experienced another poor day at the Rennsteig and just about made it into the pursuit of the top 60 with five penalties and a deficit of 2:47.5 minutes. The 32-year-old from the Black Forest had plans six years ago with gold in Hochfilzen for the last German World Cup medal in this discipline.
Doll continues to look for explanations for the weak performance at the World Cup so far. “A strange race today, I felt good and the setting at the shooting range was very good,” he wrote on Instagram: “It’s really annoying that in the end I can’t manage to clear the discs.”
Impressive series
Bö, on the other hand, continued his impressive series despite difficult conditions and also won the sixth sprint race of the season. The five-time Olympic champion has now collected 14 World Championship titles and is catching up with his compatriot Ole Einar Björndalen. The biathlon icon, who is on site as a TV expert, is still the undisputed record champion with 20 World Championship gold medals. Even the sometimes heavy fog did not prevent the long-term winner Bö from collecting his second gold on the Rennsteig. On Wednesday, Norway’s mixed relay was enough to successfully defend the title.
Hardly anyone doubts that number three will follow in the chase race. In the pursuit, Bö is once again the clear favorite. His running form is outstanding, allowing him to make up for mistakes in shooting with frightening ease to a certain extent.
At Doll, meanwhile, nothing went together again. After the veteran lost all chances of a medal with a penalty loop in the mixed relay and only finished sixth, things didn’t go any better three days later. Three penalties in prone and two more standing were a big disappointment for the oldest of the German team, who celebrated the biggest success of his career in this discipline in 2017.
Six years ago he surprisingly won in Hochfilzen with a lead of 0.7 seconds before Bö. It was one of just three career successes Dolls has had on the podium this winter. The Olympic eighth in Beijing left without a word after his weak performance and initially gave no interviews. Roman Rees (2) made it to 19th place, the second World Cup debutant David Zobel (2) finished 35th.