The ÖSV team lost a lot of time on the cross-country ski run. Felix Leitner, the best Austrian, did not get past 29th place, two minutes behind, even without missing a shot. So the starting point for the pursuit on Sunday is extremely bad, before that one can hope for another season surprise on Saturday.
In contrast, the sprint, which was held on a shortened 2.5 km lap due to the lack of snow, was miserable, as it was at the season opener in Finland. “The shooting was good, but it was just bad on the cross-country ski run, the running was a disaster,” said Leitner, who had consistently disappointed in the previous week. His hope for an increase at home was not fulfilled. “It was worse than in Finland, I didn’t feel well physically either,” said the Tyrolean.
No open criticism
When asked about possibly bad ski equipment, Leitner and his teammates did not want to comment specifically. The general tenor was that the choice of skis, like all other components, had to be carefully analyzed. For David Komatz (42nd/1 penalty loop), who called his deficit “catastrophic”, Harald Lemmerer (49th/2nd) and Simon Eder (51st/2nd) the starting position before the final pursuit competition is even worse. Patrick Jakob (88th) will only be a spectator.
IOC opens door for Russia’s athletes
Eder missed twice in standing, which combined with the slow running time put him almost three minutes behind. “Of course it hurts especially at home,” the veteran regretted the poor performance. The multiple World Championships medal winner stated that, as in the last training session, he was physically not up to par, and there were also shooting errors, which were untypical for him. “Unfortunately, the worm is in there standing,” regretted Eder.
“Wish we were better”
Bö, on the other hand, continued to be in dream form in front of 4,800 fans with his third win in the fourth race of the season. The 29-year-old Olympic gold medalist won his 55th World Cup after flawless shooting by a whopping 43 seconds ahead of France’s Emilien Jacquelin, who had a penalty. Two other Norwegians, Sturla Holm Laegreid and Filip Fjeld Andersen, followed closely behind.
ÖSV head coach Vegard Bitnes did not want to overestimate the sprint result, which was disappointing as in Kontiolahti. “I wish we were better, but we are where we are right now,” said the Norwegian, pointing out some positive aspects. Despite the renewed low blow, Ricco Groß’s successor believes in a successful season like the fourth place in Kontiolahti. “We all hope so,” Bitnes said. However, he assesses the prospects of a top ten place in the pursuit as low.
Before the men’s relay, the women’s pursuit with Lisa Hauser in twelfth starting position is on the program on Saturday. The German sprint winner Denise Herrmann-Wick is the leader.
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Source: Nachrichten
