Exactly a year ago, Justus Strelow answered questions from a large press group for the first time in Ruhpolding. The 2022/2023 season was the first that he spent entirely in the Biathletes World Cup, at the top of the world in the sport that he has been practicing since primary school age. Giving interviews, like he did back in Ruhpolding, was one of the many new impressions he absorbed, as was the noise of thousands of fans cheering him on as he warmed up.
In the meantime, the 27-year-old has quietly earned a permanent place in the German World Cup team. Not with outstanding victories, but with outstanding performance at the shooting range and with stable race results – he is currently in eleventh place in the overall World Cup.
“I felt comfortable there”
On Thursday evening he once again found himself in front of a group of journalists in the press center in Ruhpolding and reported, quite coolly, about the relay race in which he and his team had recently come second. Justus Strelow, the youngest in the team, was given the role of starting runner – nothing new for him, his coaches entrust him with this position because they know that he almost always scores at the shooting range and gives the relay a good starting position. His hit rate is 95 percent while lying down and 94 percent while standing. For comparison: The World Cup leader, the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö, world champion and Olympic champion, currently has 88 and 83 percent respectively.
In the relay race in Ruhpolding, the last before the World Championships in February, Justus Strelow did what was expected of him: hit. His deficit on the running route was not significant. The starting runner for the victorious Norwegians, Sturla Holm Laegreid, failed to score twice and had to try to catch up with the German. But he couldn’t be shaken off: “The pace wasn’t extremely high in the first lap,” reported Strelow, “I tried to run next to Sturla so that nobody got the idea of keeping the pace too high. I felt comfortable there.” Strelow knows that he can’t yet keep up with the world’s best athletes on the cross-country ski trails, and he’s working meticulously to change that.
Born in Saxony, he laid the foundations for his career at the sports boarding school in Altenberg; today he lives and trains in Oberhof in Thuringia. This year, his training group, co-national coach Jens Filbrich, has had a running expert at his side at the Olympic base there. The former cross-country skier is supposed to give the German biathletes legs and has found a grateful buyer in Justus Strelow for his tips and tricks.
Cracked the World Cup standard early
Former world-class biathlete Eric Lesser also passes on his knowledge to Strelow in Oberhof as a shooting trainer. He learns from the best and makes something of it: “I think I’ve taken a step in the right direction again and I’m happy that I’ve moved a little closer to the fastest in our team,” he said after the start of the season achieved his best World Cup result to date with second place in the individual race in Östersund. “My goal is to get back to the top of the world every year.”
Julia Basic, Ruhpolding Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3 Julia Basic, Ruhpolding Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Julia Basic Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
With second place, he broke the association’s internal World Cup standard early on. If the German Ski Association (DSV) nominates him for the World Cup in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic, it would be his second World Cup participation. Last year he was able to take part in his home World Championships in Oberhof and gain valuable experience – even as a starting runner in the relay.
In its current form, the DSV will hardly be able to avoid Strelow’s nomination. His season appearance in the Chiemgau Arena was a first-class application. “It was my goal to submit a good application and I think I succeeded,” he said afterwards. He wants to confirm his form in the individual races, the sprint on Saturday (2.30 p.m.) and the pursuit on Sunday (2.45 p.m. / both ZDF and Eurosport).
But the competitive situation in the German team, which is full of World Cup winners, is not easy. “We are a very strong team,” Strelow is aware of that. “It also depends on what the shape is right now. But I hope that I’ll get the chance to run at the start more often in the future.” In the best case scenario, on February 17th, when the men’s relay is on the program in Nove Mesto.
