Biathlon: Hauser and Co. in Hochfilzen ninth – ray of hope for Leitner

The quartet with Dunja Zdouc, the strong debutante Anna Gandler, Schwaiger and world champion Lisa Hauser was more than three minutes behind winner France. In the concluding men’s pursuit, Johannes Thingnes Bö celebrated his next victory, while Felix Leitner improved from 29th to 13th place without missing a shot.

The Tyrolean, who had been badly battered recently, managed a liberation. “A race like that as an answer, I think that’s good. I’m glad that I can shoot so well,” said Leitner after the successful race to catch up. In running, however, only a small step forward was achieved. “I don’t feel well, it’s difficult. I don’t know what the reason is. I hope we can get it under control soon,” said the local hero, who had been struggling with his uniform in the past few days. “So it makes sense again, I was done yesterday.”

Simon Eder, David Komatz and Harald Lemmerer did not make it into the top 30. Their teammates experienced a roller coaster ride in the fresh snow relay over 4 x 6 km. Because starting skier Zdouc only barely avoided a penalty loop in standing, four spare rounds and a bad final loop threw her back far. Gandler started her season debut in 13th place, almost a minute behind. But the 21-year-old completed it brilliantly and brought Austria up to sixth place with only one spare and good mileage. “It was a cool feeling, I had goosebumps. Everything went well,” said the Tyrolean, who remained strong in front of a large crowd.

In contrast, Schwaiger shot lousy and wasn’t particularly fast either. “Really bad. Two penalty loops are very bitter, especially at home,” said the Salzburg native, who had already experienced a debacle at the shooting range at the 2017 home World Cup. Hauser then tried to limit the damage a bit from eleventh place with three spares. At the season opener in Finland they finished eighth. “Ninth place is ok, but there was a lot more inside again, except for Anna, none of the shooting range was satisfactory, that’s a bit of a shame,” explained Hauser.

In the individual competitions in Hochfilzen, the Kontiolahti sprint winner was by far the best ÖSV athlete in twelfth and ninth place. This allowed the Olympic fourth-placed, who was plagued by illnesses in the summer, to draw a positive interim conclusion. “Before the season I would not have thought that things would go so well. There were already very good races,” said Hauser to the APA – Austria Press Agency. Due to the good progress, she will also take the next World Cup with her, contrary to original plans. “I have to manage with the energy, but I’m already looking forward to France, because if that’s the case, then everything will be fine again,” said Hauser and said goodbye to “two days of eating and sleeping a lot”.

The balance of the ÖSV men reads less pleasant. Leitner’s 13th place is by far the best result of the season. “Felix pulled it off, it gives us a boost that we hope to take with us to France,” said Eder (34′). High-flyer Bö celebrated his fourth win in a row. After two penalties, the Norwegian celebrated his eighth success in Hochfilzen ahead of his compatriot Sturla Holm Laegreid. “I really like it here, it’s one of the best places for me,” beamed Bö.

After successes in the sprint and in the relay, he had a perfect weekend in Tyrol. Overall, the 29-year-old holds 56 World Cup successes. With four in the five races of the season so far, Bö is also clearly in the lead ahead of Laegreid in the overall standings.

Source: Nachrichten