World Cup
Only one top ten place: biathletes have no chance in Hochfilzen
Benedikt Doll took tenth place in the pursuit at the World Cup in Hochfilzen. photo
© Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa
After two victories at the start of the season, the podium places for the German biathlon men in Hochfilzen are far away. Even for women, it’s not nearly enough to make the leap to the top.
The German biathletes also took part on the second day World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, clearly missed the podium places. Benedikt Doll achieved the best result in the pursuit with the victory of the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö in tenth place.
A little later, Vanessa Voigt, the strongest German woman, took twelfth place in the Pillerseetal. At the first World Cup in Sweden, the team managed ten podium finishes in ten competitions. Finally, the relay races take place in Hochfilzen on Sunday (from 11.30 a.m./ARD and Eurosport).
Two penalties in the last shooting cost the 33-year-old Doll a better result. “It was very painful. It annoys me that I can’t finish the final shooting,” said Doll. With a total of four errors, Doll’s deficit at the finish was 1:30.7 minutes. Bö celebrated his first win of the season. After his weak start to the season, the 17-time world champion prevailed with just one penalty ahead of his compatriots Johannes Dale-Skejvdal (3) and Tarjei Bö (2).
David Zobel also made two mistakes in the fourth shooting and fell back to 14th place; he had previously made three mistakes without making any mistakes. Teammate Johannes Kühn had it even worse, having to go into the penalty loop four times at the end. After 12.5 kilometers in fantastic wintry weather in the Pillerseetal, Kühn crossed the finish line in 18th place. Philipp Nawrath, who lost his lead in the overall World Cup on Friday, only finished 22nd after four penalties.
In the absence of Franziska Preuß, who was infected with the coronavirus, only Voigt (2 shooting errors) was able to convince the German women with a few drawbacks. However, the Thuringian was 2:19.6 minutes behind. When the Swede Elvira Öberg won ahead of Lena Häcki-Groß from Switzerland and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold from Norway (all 1 error), only Janina Hettich-Walz (1) made it into the top 30 in 26th place. Sophia Schneider (3) as 36th and Selina Grotian (4) in 40th had nothing to do with the outcome of the race.