World Cup in Pokljuka
Biathlete Herrmann-Wick seventh at Öberg-Sieg
Denise Herrmann-Wick (l) finished seventh in the pursuit. photo
© Darko Bandic/AP/dpa
In the pursuit, biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick finished seventh. Victory in Slovenia goes to the favourite.
Swede Elvira Öberg also won the second race at the Biathlon World Cup on Pokljuka. The 23-year-old shot clean in the pursuit and, like in the sprint, prevailed.
In her sixth World Cup victory, Öberg relegated the Italian Dorothea Wierer (1 penalty) and the French overall World Cup leader Julia Simon (2/+ 33.4 seconds) to places 19.1 seconds ahead.
Denise Herrmann-Wick was again the best German at the first World Cup of the year in Slovenia. The 34-year-old, sixth in the sprint, missed twice and secured seventh place thanks to a strong final lap. She was 55.1 seconds down on the leader. Vanessa Voigt (2 mistakes) finished 24th, Janina Hettich-Walz (3) was 34th.
Herrmann-Wick: “The next races can come”
Herrmann-Wick struggled with shin problems at the end of the race. “Nevertheless, it was a good race, I feel good, the next races can come,” said Herrmann-Wick on ZDF.
The ailing Anna Weidel had to do without an assignment. It was “a joint decision to refrain from competing for the time being,” said German team doctor Katharina Blume. “Anna Weidel was ill over the Christmas period. In the sprint it became apparent that her condition and state of health is not yet optimal,” said Blume. Weidel was 26th in the sprint on Thursday. The break should now also be understood as a precautionary measure.
Previously, Franziska Preuss, who was ill, had had to forgo the trip to Slovenia. Vanessa Hinz had to leave before the start of the World Cup.
Doll eleventh – Bö wins again
For men, Johannes Thingnes Bö continues to dominate at will. The four-time Beijing Olympic champion from Norway also won the pursuit one day after the sprint with great superiority and already celebrated his seventh win of the season. The 29-year-old had two penalties and relegated Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet (1 penalty) to second place with a lead of 1:04.9 minutes. For the overall World Cup winner of the previous season, it was the first podium finish of the winter. Third was Bö’s older brother Tarjei (1/+ 1:06.6 minutes), who had already finished second in the Norwegian triple triumph in the sprint.
The best German was Benedikt Doll (2 errors/+ 2:19.7 minutes) in eleventh place, directly followed by Johannes Kühn. The Bavarian delivered a very strong performance with four clean shooting bouts and moved up from 44th on the grid. With that, Kühn finally created the internal World Cup standard. Romas Rees (1) was 15th, Justus Strelow (5) finished 51st and Philipp Horn (7) finished 54th.