Franziska Preuss stands there after the race, she looks down, her eyes narrowed, her cap pulled down over her face. The doubt has smuggled itself into her posture. She was so fit last year, then a break due to a fall in December 2021, and then a corona infection shortly before the Olympic Games.
If it weren’t for the word “if”, Franziska Preuss would have been a medal candidate. Now she’s chasing, three mistakes, 30th place for Preuss over 7.5 kilometers in the sprint. It was tough on the track right from the start. Her feeling: not good. Franziska Preuss is also at a loss as to how she can improve her standing shooting technique. She doesn’t know why it’s not working, she said.
“I’m way too cerebral about everything right now.” She only decided shortly before the games to fly to China after all. She missed the last World Cup before the games in Antholz, as well as the home World Cup in Ruhpolding. She saw the others walking in front of her window at home. She had to stay at home.
The corona infection cost her important weeks of preparation. Slowly she had to feel her way back to a higher level. She would like to act, but it’s not possible, she said. An unusual feeling when you know what it could be like. “There’s no looseness, there’s no fun.” She even wonders if it all makes sense what she’s doing.
It is very difficult for her to process this and also to accept it. Of course, Preuss had dreamed of a medal, it’s her long-term goal, now it’s even further away. Her partner, former biathlete Simon Schempp, gives her strength.
Her teammates couldn’t keep up with the front runners in this race either. Vanessa Voigt was 18th, gold medalist Denise Herrmann 22nd and Vanessa Hinz 55th. “Such kindergarten mistakes should not happen to an experienced athlete like me,” said Hinz after the sprint. The men’s sprint race is scheduled for Saturday. Benedikt Doll, Johannes Kühn, Philipp Nawrath and Roman Rees will start there.
