Franziska Preuß finished third on the winners’ podium in the biathlon sprint in Hochfilzen. The 26-year-old made a shooting error over 7.5 kilometers this Friday and was only 9.9 seconds behind Dsinara Alimbekawa from Belarus who had not made a mistake. The 2018 Olympic relay champion achieved her first World Cup victory. In second place came the Norwegian Tiril Eckhoff, who was just ahead of Preuss. “I’m happy and proud that I got it across, especially at the shooting range,” said Preuss. “It was a really cool race.”
Preuss thus created a good starting position for the ladies’ pursuit on Sunday. Janina Hettich from the Black Forest was the only German female ski hunter to make no mistakes. The 24-year-old came in 12th place, 42 seconds behind Alimbekawa, and secured half the World Cup norm. “I managed to clear all ten targets in a World Cup race,” said the Schönwald woman happily.
Rejection by Arnd Peiffer
Biathlon Olympic champion Arnd Peiffer is missing from the German team in Hochfilzen. The 33-year-old left for personal reasons before the sprint. So he is missing from the pursuit race on Saturday. The decision to use Peiffer in the relay on Sunday should only be made at short notice, as the German Ski Association (DSV) announced.
Since Peiffer was already on the starting list for the race on Friday, the DSV was unable to nominate another athlete such as Simon Schempp at short notice.
Dahlmeier has no regrets
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier confessed on the sidelines of the World Cup that she does not regret her early retirement from biathlon. “I don’t have to deliver any more results, I have the good memories, the successes in my head and I can enjoy this biathlon experience from the outside,” said the 27-year-old Bavarian on ZDF. “I am very grateful and very happy about the decision.”
Grateful for everything that was: Laura Dahlmeier
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Image: dpa
Dahlmeier ended her career in 2019. Since then, the Garmisch-Partenkirchen native has been studying sports science at the Technical University of Munich and also works as a biathlon expert for ZDF. At the title fights in 2017 in Hochfilzen, she caused a sensation with five gold medals and one silver medal, and in total she was world champion nine times. “I love coming back, I’m happy to be here in Hochfilzen,” she said. “But I’m also very grateful that I don’t have to walk anymore.” It was a really great time. “I was allowed to achieve everything, to experience everything. But now it’s time for something else, ”said the two-time Olympic champion Dahlmeier.
In the current competition situation, Denise Herrmann once again couldn’t handle the shooting range in Hochfilzen and had to go to the penalty loop three times. The former world champion came in 32nd, 1: 21.2 minutes behind. “I sold myself below value. There was just the worm in there, ”said Herrmann. Maren Hammerschmidt was 33rd (1 error / 1: 24.0 minutes behind).
Vanessa Hinz (3) did not even qualify for the pursuit race in 62nd place. “I’m at a loss, I don’t know what’s going on,” said the 28-year-old from Schliersee. The 23-year-old Sophia Schneider from Oberteisendorf came in 80th after three penalty loops.
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