World Cup in Östersund
Preuß second in biathlon pursuit – Voigt third
Two Germans among the three fastest in the pursuit (from left): Franziska Preuß, Lou Jeanmonnot from France, Vanessa Voigt. photo
© Pontus Lundahl/TT News Agency/AP/dpa
Franziska Preuß is back. The 29-year-old comes second in the pursuit of Östersund – narrowly missing out on victory again. But she is now the only woman in yellow. Voigt is third again.
Biathlete Franziska Preuß finished the World Cup in Östersund once again narrowly missed out on their second World Cup victory, but still took sole lead in the overall World Cup.
The 29-year-old only had to admit defeat to Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot by 0.3 seconds in the final sprint, but with second place she celebrated her second podium finish of the still young World Championship winter, thus underlining her sensational comeback. Vanessa Voigt completed the next top result in third place; it was also her second podium after third place in the individual.
For the DSV women, it was their fifth place on the podium after third place in the relay and the successes of Preuß (2nd) and Vanessa Voigt (3rd) in the sprint. The last time the German ski hunters were this successful was at the start of the season 15 years ago, when they also achieved five podium finishes in Östersund.
Preuß is now alone in the yellow jersey
“I fought until the end, it’s a shame that it wasn’t so close. But there are still a few races left,” said Preuß on ZDF. The 29-year-old, who had already missed victory by just 0.1 seconds in the opening individual, had to run a penalty loop, while sprint winner Jeanmonnot made no mistakes. After the last shooting, Preuß entered the final lap 6.8 seconds behind Jeanmonnot. There she quickly caught up and passed. But the Frenchwoman kept catching up on the descents, came out of the slipstream of Preuß shortly before the home straight and narrowly prevailed. Before the hunting race, Preuß and the Norwegian Karoline Offigstad Knotten started together in yellow for the women’s race for the first time. But Knotten only finished 15th.
The 26-year-old Voigt was 18.5 seconds behind the winner after ten kilometers. She even came into the last shooting as the leader, but then had to go into the penalty loop. Like Preuss in the days of Östersund, it also acted strongly.
Janina Hettich-Walz came 13th, youngster Selina Grotian 21st and Sophia Schneider 35th. Hanna Kebinger was spared due to mild infection symptoms.