The Norwegian biathletes are just as unbeatable in Switzerland as Justine Braisaz-Bouchet. For David Zobel, the World Cup premiere in Lenzerheide ended with a sense of achievement.
The Norwegian biathlon dominators were not unsettled by the shock in their own team hotel and showed the next gala.
However, the German men were unable to climb onto the podium at the end of the World Cup premiere in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. As the best athlete in the German Ski Association, David Zobel was delighted to be seventh in the triple success of the Scandinavians of Johannes Thingnes Bö, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal and Tarjei Bö, who had cracked the association’s internal World Cup standard. “That was important, if everyone in the team breaks the World Cup standard in passing, of course I have to follow suit,” Zobel told ZDF. “It’s a lot of fun in the team at the moment and it’s just brilliant.”
His teammates are unlikely to share this opinion after major problems at the shooting range. Especially Philipp Nawrath and Benedikt Doll, who each had to do five extra laps at the end of the mass start race and ended up in 24th and 21st place. Doll had his first win of the season in the sprint on Friday. The second best German was Philipp Horn (3 shooting errors) in twelfth place. Behind him Justus Strelow (1) finished 16th and Johannes Kühn (3) finished 18th.
Shot in the hotel
The last racing weekend before the Christmas break for Sturla Holm Laegreid ended with a shock that will have repercussions. According to the IBU World Association, a shot went off during the Norwegian’s dry training. Laegreid was not allowed to take part in the mass start because of the breach of safety rules and will probably face a fine. A spokesman for the Graubünden cantonal police explained that the 26-year-old would be reported for “careless handling of weapons”. He is accused of allegedly violating the Graubünden Police Act.
“In the worst case, something like this can cost a life. That’s a really big mess that happened to me,” Laegreid told broadcaster NRK with tears in his eyes. “I am deeply sorry for this incident and I sincerely apologize to the entire biathlon family, my teammates and the hotel owner for what happened. This is a brutal reminder for me and all biathletes of how important safety routines really are.”
Franziska Preuß in seventh place
Franziska Preuß appeared noticeably satisfied after the women’s mass start. With Justine Braisaz-Bouchet’s third win in the third race, she collected another top ten placement in seventh place. Having just recovered from a corona infection, Preuß showed an impeccable performance at the shooting range, but she was left behind by the strong competition on the cross-country ski trail.
“I noticed that I didn’t have much to report on the track, it was a fight for survival. That’s why the focus was on shooting and I’m 100 percent satisfied with that,” said Preuß and added: “I’m very satisfied, too in general with the first trimester. I had few expectations and if someone had said to me that seventh place was my worst placement, I would have signed that straight away.”
The Frenchwoman Braisaz-Bouchet won all three high-altitude races and was rewarded with the coveted bib of the overall World Cup leader. The Swede Elvira Öberg (2 shooting errors) took second place over 12.5 kilometers ahead of her older sister Hanna Öberg (2). Vanessa Voigt was well in the race until the standing stop, but then missed twice and fell back to 21st place. Teammate Janina Hettich-Walz had to do three extra laps and finished in 23rd place.
“The bottom line is that we can say that the direction is right, even if we are not yet at the top in every competition,” said sports director Felix Bitterling about the 13 podium places after three World Cup stops. “Anything else would be extremely arrogant.”
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
