Vanessa Voigt is one of the best shooters in the Biathlon World Cup. She shows this in the individual in Antholz. She still narrowly missed the podium. A Swiss woman celebrates her debut victory.
First, Vanessa Voigt cleared all 20 targets in a masterful manner under difficult conditions. Then the biathlete trembled in the finish area and had to watch as she narrowly pushed the Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot off the podium in the World Cup individual in Antholz.
“Of course it’s a bit of a shame. But I rate the race very highly. Because I’ve struggled a lot with myself in the last few weeks,” said the 26-year-old, who achieved her third podium finish of the winter by just 5.8 seconds against third-placed Jeanmonnot missed, the German Press Agency.
Although she was unable to celebrate on the podium with the Swiss premiere winner Lena Häcki-Groß and the second Frenchwoman Julia Simon after the individual, which was shortened to 12.5 kilometers, the Thuringian still gained self-confidence three weeks before the World Cup. “That was important for my head towards the World Cup. It’s such a small milestone for me,” said Voigt, who this time didn’t lose that much in terms of running compared to the competition at the strenuous altitude of 1,600 meters. “The running is going up little by little. But I may have saved too many seeds in the first few laps.” She also lost crucial seconds at the shooting range because others fired their shots faster. “Nevertheless, I am very satisfied,” said Voigt, who knows that she still has to work on her shooting speed.
Hettich-Walz and Freuß in the top ten
In the race, in which there were 45 penalty seconds instead of one penalty minute per error, Janina Hettich-Walz (2 errors) made it into the top ten in seventh place and Franziska Preuß (2) in eighth place. In the 2026 Olympic Arena, Hettich-Walz in particular was on course for a podium until the final shooting. But then the 27-year-old made two mistakes. Their disappointment afterwards was great. “I’m very annoyed,” said Hettich-Walz, who was 1:13.9 minutes behind the winner. “I had a good feeling at the shooting range. My legs were shaking at the last shot, then the first shot went just wide and then my legs didn’t get any quieter.”
Preuss, who had come second three times so far, also missed twice in the first standing stage. “The brain stopped somehow. But in terms of running it worked,” said the 29-year-old. She will take the three error-free performances and the seventh-best running time with her as positive things for the head, even with a view to the final mass start.
Johanna Puff (21/3 errors) finished 35th in her second World Cup race. Sophia Schneider (26), who struggled with back problems while running, had to settle for 41st place after five errors.
Top talent Selina Grotian (19) had to forego competing at short notice when she returned to the World Cup team. “Unfortunately, we are currently dealing with isolated gastrointestinal complaints in the team, which are also affecting Selina today. She will therefore not take part in the individual race,” said team doctor Jan Wüstenfeld. According to sports director Felix Bitterling, the five-time junior world champion should still be used in South Tyrol.
Source: Stern
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