World Cup in Östersund: DSV men fight back impressively

As of: November 29, 2025 6:09 p.m

At the beginning it looked like a fiasco for the German men’s relay team at the Biathlon World Cup opener in Östersund. But then they showed fighting spirit. In the end it wasn’t enough for the podium.

Even without the Bö brothers who retired, Norway won the first race of the Olympic winter. In the relay, the Scandinavians (1 penalty loop +10 spares) came out ahead of France (+15.3 seconds/3+11) and Sweden (+24.7 seconds/3+14). The quartet from the German Ski Association (DSV) around Justus Strelow, Danilo Riethmüller, Philipp Nawrath and Philipp Horn came in fourth place (+55.7 sec/0+9) in sometimes difficult conditions at the shooting range.

“It wasn’t easy today”the German final runner Philipp Horn then described the situation during the shooting events in the Sportschau interview. Even if things didn’t go well for everyone, he wasn’t dissatisfied: “We are starting the new season where we left off the old one – starting number four in fourth place. Nevertheless, we are within striking distance and have shown that we can be at the forefront.” It hadn’t looked like that just an hour earlier.

Strelow loses a lot of time standing

Because after the first German starter, the chances of a top placement seemed more or less gone. Strelow, actually the best DSV shooter, missed his first two shots while lying down. Although he remained without a penalty in both stages, his standing position took an eternity. Only after 1:53 minutes did he fire all eight cartridges, taking 25 seconds longer than the second slowest shooter from Estonia. Since some nations spun in the penalty loop, Strelow started his final lap in 14th place, but he was already 1:48 minutes behind when he switched to Danilo Riethmüller.

“It was disgusting from the start. At some point I started fighting and when you’ve already spent so much time at the shooting range, it doesn’t make sense to just go for it and take two rounds.”Strelow explained his standing position and added resignedly: “But in the end it might have turned out the same.”

Riethmüller fights his way forward

While the Norwegian team at the top gradually increased their lead over their closest rivals Italy and France, Danilo Riethmüller was at least able to improve his position. After five hits while lying down, he only needed one additional cartridge even while standing. This allowed him to move up to eighth position until the second change. However, the gap to the top remained unchanged. “I didn’t even notice where we were at the moment. I concentrated completely on myself. I also had to think about which position we were actually playing on the go because I was so in my tunnel.”said Riethmüller after the race.

Nawrath puts DSV team on course for the podium

Philipp Nawrath presented himself even more impressively. He managed to hit all ten shots while the competition around him made numerous mistakes. Suddenly the DSV team found itself in third place ahead of the last starter. The 32-year-old had gained over half a minute on the Norwegians, who were still leading.

And Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen made a mistake in the penultimate shooting. He had to go into the penalty loop once and suddenly the top four were only half a minute apart. DSV final runner Horn had to give up a place to the strong Swede Sebastian Samuelsson and was unable to make up this place in the last shooting. At the top, Norway and France fought for the day’s victory, while Sweden took third place in their home game. The DSV team only finished fourth.

This is how it continues