World Cup in Austria: Biathletes Voigt and Preuß on the podium in Hochfilzen

One day after her first win of the season, biathlete Franziska Preuß defended her lead in the overall World Cup with third place in the pursuit race. The 30-year-old only had to admit defeat to French winner Lou Jeanmonnot and teammate Vanessa Voigt in Hochfilzen, Austria. Like Jeanmonnot, the Thuringian Voigt showed a flawless performance without a penalty and was rewarded with her best result of the season in second place. Preuß missed another victory due to three shooting errors and was 35.3 seconds behind at the finish.

Preuss initially had a long lead

In perfect conditions, the former relay world champion Preuß was the first to start the hunting race for the first time in her career. After a flawless first shooting session, Preuß initially extended her lead and increased the pressure on the competition with a flawless performance in the second prone stage. Jeanmonnot came closest.

The 26-year-old then took the lead because Preuß made two mistakes in the first standing stage. After her two penalties, she was in third place and was chased by teammate Vanessa Voigt. After another mistake, Preuß initially fell back to fourth place, Voigt was in second place after 20 hits in 20 shots before the final round. She defended this until the end, just ahead of Preuß.

Julia Tannheimer (3 errors) took 17th place, Selina Grotian (5) fell from fifth place to 23rd. Julia Kink (3) in 31st and Marlene Fichtner (2) in 50th had nothing to do with the outcome of the race.

Preuß had previously celebrated the second victory of her career on Friday. Despite a shooting error, she was unbeatable over 7.5 kilometers and was on the top podium for the first time in almost six years. At the same time, she secured the lead in the overall World Cup for the second time in her career. Last year she was unable to compete in the yellow jersey due to illness and immediately lost the jersey without a fight.