Philipp Nawrath (right) was close to a medal in the relay and also in the mass start on Friday. But Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen always beat him on the shooting range.
Photo: AFP/Odd Andersen
The international biathlon elite has become accustomed to the freezing temperatures and the sharp wind on the Olympic course in Zhangjiakou over the past two weeks. However, the complicated conditions were particularly challenging during the final mass starts on Friday. “My fingers froze in between,” reported Benedikt Doll, for example. But the Black Forest man calmed down straight away: “Fortunately, they got warmer later.”
On the other hand, the summary of the German biathlon men was anything but warming. While her teammates, who had to struggle with various problems in the months before leaving for China, were able to celebrate Denise Herrmann’s gold medal in the individual and a bronze set in the relay, the men and women coached by national coach Mark Kirchner were left empty-handed – for the first time since the 2010 Games in Vancouver, only for the second time ever, and for the first time in Kirchner’s twelve-year tenure.
In the mass start, Doll and Franziska Preuss achieved the best results from a German perspective with eighth places. But it was precisely the men’s showdown that was characteristic of the overall Olympic performance of the DSV athletes: they kept scratching for the front places, but at the decisive moment they weren’t good enough to jump onto the podium.
Norway’s superstar Johannes Thingnes Bö was already rushing towards his fourth gold of these games, as was Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma towards his surprising silver medal when Doll and team colleague Philipp Nawrath missed out on the possible precious metal at the last shooting. The conditions were clearly aggravated by sudden gusts of wind – which Doll and Nawrath then proved emphatically with their four penalties each. But parallel to the German duo, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen also shot, clearing all five targets and earning bronze.
The Norwegian team, for which Tiril Eckhoff and the three-time Olympic champion Marte Olsbu Røiseland had already won silver and bronze in the victory of the French Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Christiansen finally got the 14th piece of precious metal on the dull artificial snow course in Zhangjiakou, almost 1700 meters high . The Scandinavians fully lived up to their role as favorites with a large lead over the teams from France (seven medals) and Sweden (four).
Christiansen had already outsmarted the Germans in the relay race two days earlier. While his direct opponent Nawrath received a penalty loop in the final shooting bout, the Norwegian anchor shot clean and secured victory for his quartet. In the mass start there was now a new edition of the scenery – with the same outcome. “For me, the wind was definitely the sticking point. But Christiansen in particular was very strong next to me. Then I said to myself: ›You can do that too.‹ But I couldn’t put it into practice,« Nawrath described the small but subtle differences between the absolute world elite and the German biathletes at the competitions 180 kilometers north-west of Beijing. Doll, who unexpectedly won bronze in the pursuit four years ago, also found Christiansen’s performance “impressive”. But the biggest disappointment was a few days ago, Doll recalled. The relay medal, which he just missed out on with fourth place, “hurt quite a bit,” said the 31-year-old.
With the teammates, the mood was exactly the opposite. Franziska Preuss, who went into the winter as the greatest hope for a medal, was fit enough for five Olympic starts again after a two-month break from competition due to a foot injury and subsequent corona infection, but was not back at her peak at the peak of the season. After finishing 30th in the sprint, the Upper Bavarian was still completely desperate, now she spoke of a “forgiving end”. Kristian Mehringer agreed – albeit with minor reservations. “We imagined three medals, now it’s become two,” said the women’s national coach – and recapitulated: “With a fit Franziska Preuss there would have been even more.”
Denise Herrmann left such relativization completely aside after her 13th place in the mass start. “As a team, we were spot on and we all showed what we’re made of,” emphasized the 33-year-old from Saxony. After months of hardship and three weeks in China, she was looking forward to one thing in her adopted Bavarian home of Ruhpolding: »The first meat loaf roll.«
