Denise Herrmann-Wick becomes world champion in the sprint thanks to an outstanding performance on the shooting range and on the cross-country ski run. After the disappointment in the mixed relay, it is the hoped-for initial spark for the German team. The home audience is full of euphoria.
Denise Herrmann-Wick merrily crooned her favorite hit “the train has no brakes”, then she hopped onto the top step like a bouncy ball. After the coronation at home, a broad grin kept flashing across her face, and the fans in the stands went completely freaked out anyway. With the razor-thin triumph in the sprint over 7.5 km, the 34-year-old not only fulfilled her gold dream, but also immediately ensured a German biathlon holiday.
“It feels great. It’s incredible – a magical moment. Winning at home is the best feeling ever,” said the overjoyed Herrmann-Wick, shaking her head in disbelief. “It doesn’t get any better, it’s a great day for us,” enthused DSV sports director Felix Bitterling, speaking of an “incredibly impressive athlete”.
The Olympic champion is “the mommy in our team. And when mommy wins gold, everyone is happy,” said teammate Sophia Schneider. Herrmann-Wick emphasized that she was “totally excited”. As soon as she walked in, she “had hardly lost her pulse. Words can hardly describe the fact that I can conjure up such a race in the snow.”
Under the eyes of DOSB President Thomas Weikert, the (gold) train actually had no brakes. “It’s good that I was able to implement the text of our song,” said the passionate Schlager fan with a wink. Herrmann-Wick withstood the huge pressure after the disappointment in mixed: “It went easy today.”
Her success should now be the initial spark for the entire team, women’s coach Kristian Mehringer is hoping for a “wave of euphoria”. The triumph was “sensational” and “does the whole team good,” added Bitterling. The former cross-country skier was a razor-thin 2.2 seconds ahead of Swede Hanna Öberg (0). Her teammate Linn Persson (0/ 26.2) secured bronze. Schneider rounded off the strong German result as seventh (1/57.6). For Herrmann-Wick it was the biggest success of her impressive career after the individual Olympic gold in Beijing and the World Championship victory in the pursuit in 2019. Overall, it was her seventh world title.
Herrmann stayed cool from the first shooting. After a flawless performance, she was third. When she also cleared all the targets in the standing stage, the cheering was huge. The German coaches happily high-fived each other, even though Herrmann-Wick was still 9.4 seconds behind Öberg at the time. But in the final lap she ignited the turbo. “I put everything back there again.” Herrmann-Wick did an excellent job of what she had always wished for before the home races: converting the support of the supporters into energy. “The pressure of expectations shouldn’t be a limiting factor. I hope I can enjoy that,” she said before the start. She could enjoy.
