After the young German biathlon team got off to a great start with three medals (two gold, one silver) in the first four races at the weekend, the first race of the new week was a bit more sobering: Selina Grotian missed the hoped-for medal at the shooting range. Speaking of the shooting range: there in Shchuchinsk, Kazakhstan, a drama took place that you don’t experience every day.
Two mistakes in the final standing stage finally sealed the medal dream of European Pursuit Champion Selina Grotian in the junior women’s individual 12.5 km race on Monday.
With a total of five penalties, the German finished fifth, 52.3 seconds behind the Slovenian winner Kaja Zorc (42:27.3 minutes/3 penalties). The French Jeanne Richard (+34.9/2 errors) and Leonie Jeannier (+36.3/3 errors) completed the podium.
Incidentally, one less ticket would have been enough for Grotian to win the title. Because on the cross-country ski run, none of their 81 competitors could fool the DSV hope. The total time of 38:29.6 minutes meant the best performance, but even the 18-year-old was unable to compensate for five penalty minutes.
Biathlon exotic doesn’t hit a target
Five penalty minutes should sound like a dream result for Martina Flores Herrmann: The biathlon exotic from Chile took last place of the 81 athletes who crossed the finish line. Especially at the shooting range, the 17-year-old completely lost her nerve.
Flores Herrmann fired 20 shots (probably rather roughly) in the direction of the targets, not a single cartridge landed in the black. A catastrophic result, which is also a very rare exception among juniors.
For comparison: The Romanian Eszter Becze achieved the second worst shooting result, although she was able to clear three of the 20 targets.
However, Flores Herrmann had a small reason to be happy. If you look at the pure running time, the South American was able to overtake her compatriot Estefania Fuentes Miranda. The latter “only” missed nine targets, but needed almost 1:14 minutes more on the track.