Biathlon in Kontiolahti: Recovered Preuß “positively surprised” after fifth place

Franziska Preuß took a deep breath before quickly finding her smile again. The slightly tormented look also disappeared after a few moments. The most experienced German biathlete said she was “happy” after finishing fifth in the first individual race of the season. On Sunday, Preuß had to cancel the relay race in Finland at short notice due to a slight infection.

“I’m positively surprised,” Preuß told ARD in Kontiolahti. “I had lice and fleas at the same time for the last few days and actually just lay in bed for two days. It was a really good race for that.”

Preuss hit all ten targets while lying down. But two mistakes in the standing position, each punished with 45 seconds, probably cost him a place on the podium. The 30-year-old met the World Cup standard early on with the victory of the flawless Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot from France with a place in the top eight.

Decent mileage

Vanessa Voigt missed the target in ninth place by just 2.9 seconds. The Thuringian only missed once on the 12.5 kilometer route and, like almost all athletes from the German Ski Association (DSV), had good skis. “Of course there’s still a bit of room for improvement. But I felt pretty good – especially on the final lap,” said Voigt about her running performance.

She and Preuß seem to be in the first individual races of the season. Things went even better for the two last year when they finished third and second on the podium in Östersund, Sweden.

But she hadn’t thought of that beforehand, said Preuss. “I was really busy with something else. Yesterday, for the first time, I went out for an hour and saw how my body felt – so I didn’t know what to expect. I just tried to have fun to have.” The Bavarian has repeatedly had to struggle with many health setbacks in the past.

Young DSV quartet pays tuition fees

However, the other four DSV starters had to pay the lesson. Selina Grotian (4 errors/50th), Julia Tannheimer (5/57th), Julia Kink (5/65th) and Johanna Puff (4/74th) had nothing to do with the decision. The still very young quartet made too many mistakes on the shooting range.

“I imagined something different when shooting,” said Grotian on behalf of the young guard. “It always went great in training. All in all, it was okay for the first race. But I was hoping for a little more.”