Biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick missed the podium in the first race after the home world championships. After the hardships and successes at home, she is simply “pretty exhausted”. Vanessa Voigt finished fifth as the best German when Marte Olsbu Röiseland won.
World champion Denise Herrmann-Wick still felt the strain of the furious home party even after a break of almost two weeks. “I was pretty exhausted after the World Cup,” said the 34-year-old after the sprint from Nove Mesto on ARD. That’s why the first race after the title fights was “a shock for the body”. Nevertheless, for Herrmann-Wick, who was decorated with gold and two silvers in Oberhof, things went “okay” in the 7.5-kilometer race. I’m satisfied,” she said with a smile: “I tried to get everything out. I was behind out very good legs.”
It wasn’t enough for the Olympic champion to finish on the podium at the start of the last trimester, but she was able to live with sixth place – especially since she defended her lead in the sprint classification. Only the mistake on the first shot annoyed Herrmann-Wick: “It didn’t have to be and put me under pressure right away.”
Marte Olsbu Röiseland, who had started the season late due to illness, shot clean in the first win of the season, while teammate Vanessa Voigt. In fifth place, the 25-year-old DSV athlete was just 7.4 seconds behind Anais Chevalier-Bouchet (France) in third place. The “very lucky” Röiseland, who also shot perfectly, was 20.5 seconds ahead of her teammate Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold.
“I’m very happy, I did a good job in the race. I’m happy to take everything with me,” said Voigt, for whom, apart from relay silver, things didn’t go according to plan at the World Championships. Even after that, she “had health problems, and it wasn’t that easy mentally either”. Ticked off. Voigt and Herrmann-Wick also secured very good starting positions for the pursuers over 10 kilometers on Saturday (3.45 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport). As twelfth in the sprint, Hanna Kebinger also still has chances to go forward. Sophia Schneider, who was convincing at the World Cup, clearly missed the top 30 after three shooting errors.
For the men, victory in the pursuit over 12.5 km on Saturday (1.50 p.m.) only goes to superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö. The five-time world champion from Oberhof once again dominated the sprint on Thursday. The 29-year-old is aiming for his 17th (!) World Cup victory this winter. Roman Rees, eighth in the sprint, and Benedikt Doll (12th) still have a small chance of third place. At the end of the World Cup in Nove Mesto, mixed and single mixed relays are still on the program on Sunday.
