The men’s competitions at the Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof only have one winner: Johannes Thingnes Bö. The Norwegian also won gold in the “hard as a rock” individual and is now aiming for a new World Championship record in the next race. But even a German draws hope.
Benedikt Doll stretched one last time. After 20 strenuous kilometers in the deep Oberhof snow, he lunged over the finish line, and the enthusiastic audience welcomed the ex-world champion with loud cheers. The 32-year-old was impressively back in the top ranks as fifth on the day, but still missed the longed-for medal in the next individual demonstration of power by the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö.
“The conditions are rock hard,” said Doll: “Every lap felt even longer.” He said he “did a very good race, but didn’t have it in his own hands. Others were better.” Shortly afterwards, when Doll was in a good mood in the spring-like temperatures in the witches’ cauldron of the Arena am Rennsteig, joking with his teammate Roman Rees, who had no chance, the now four-time Oberhof winner Bö had long since finished work. The permanent winner, like many others without a hat on his head, started the race in eleventh place. Despite two penalty minutes, he reached the finish first in the entire field – because he once again ran the competition into the ground.
After his unsuccessful sprint (55th place) and catching up to 15th place in the pursuer, Doll had pushed for a top result. With just one missed shot, he didn’t stand a chance against Bö, second-placed defending champion Sturla Holm Lägreid (Norway) and bronze medalist Sebastian Samuelsson (Sweden), but underlined that he is a force to be reckoned with in the remaining races.
One day after his 30th birthday, Philipp Nawrath also impressed in his first appearance at the World Championships in Oberhof: With the high starting number 78, the surprisingly strong Nawrath (2 shooting errors/ 3:20.2 minutes) moved up to ninth place. Just behind Justus Strelow (1/ 4:14.2) confirmed his strong World Championship form in 13th place. Rees (2/ 4:43.0) fell short of his potential.
Meanwhile, serial winner Bö continues to hover in his own spheres over the snow. The dominator can continue to dream of the perfect World Cup with seven gold medals. In his fourth Oberhof race, the 29-year-old finished at the top for the fourth time – and set a record with his 16th World Cup victory: The only person to date who has since retired from France, Martin Fourcade, has won gold four times in a row during a Biathlon World Cup in 2016 fetched. With another win in the single-mixed relay on Thursday (3:10 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport), Bö could outperform him.
After almost double-digit minus degrees at the start, the sun had warmed the small Thuringian community by more than 20 degrees and ensured mild conditions. The deep snow caused many people to run slow – squall once again best defied the weather in the supreme discipline of biathlon. On Wednesday (2.30 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport) Olympic champion Denise Herrmann-Wick hopes for her third medal in the third individual race in women’s singles. After her acclaimed sprint gold, she finished second in the pursuit just behind the French overall World Cup leader Julia Simon.
