The German biathletes achieved two top 10 places at the start of the World Cup. The victory in the advanced sprint in Oberhof went to a Swede.
Franziska Preuß in fifth and Janina Hettich-Walz in sixth achieved two top placings for the German Ski Association (DSV) in the World Cup sprint at Grenzadler. The best ski hunter on Thursday (08.01.2026) was Elvira Öberg, who not only shot squeaky clean, but was also unbeatable on the cross-country ski trail.
Behind the flawless Swede, Suvi Minkkinen from Finland (0/+21.1 seconds) and France’s Julia Simon (0/+23.6 seconds) came on the other podium places. Preuß and Hettich-Walz each made one shooting error and were 47.1 and 49.5 seconds behind after the 7.5 kilometers.
“The route is not without its problems, but I think I managed it quite well and was lucky that Justine Braisaz-Bouchet pulled me up the Birxsteig on the second lap. I was very grateful.”Preuss then described the demands of the race. Her own form is continuing with a view to the Olympic Games and the problems at the start of the season “ascending”: “I hope that things will get better from race to race.”
Some biathletes hardly have any time on the track
The postponement of the competition from Friday to Thursday due to announced squalls naturally also had a direct impact on the women’s preparations for the competition. Everyone missed a full day of training, others had little or no time to inspect the track.
Janina Hettich-Walz and the Austrian team only arrived on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. and were only allowed onto the trails thanks to a special permit from the IBU World Association. The French women were in Oberhof so late that they were no longer on the track or at the shooting range on Wednesday.
The death of the Norwegian Sivert Guttorm Bakken was also omnipresent among women. The Swiss Lea Meier started the race with start number one and sent a greeting to heaven before the start.
Local hero is just running behind
Like the top 4 that day, Thuringia’s Vanessa Voigt also made no mistakes at the shooting range, but she didn’t make any progress on the cross-country ski trail and clearly missed out on a place in the top 20. She was 1:38.8 minutes behind the winner. “It was an okay race – it wasn’t perfect or very good, but I’ll take it with me. I know that I have to save some grains for the course here because it’s very difficult for me here. That’s why I was foh over zero at the shooting range.”said the Rotteröder woman.
Despite two penalties, Julia Tanhheimer finished in a decent 17th place (+1:18.8 mins). With Selina Grotian in 30th place (2/+1:45.2 min.) and Anna Weidel (1/+1:50.2 min.) in 32nd place, all German starters qualified for the pursuit race on Sunday.
Hettich-Walz: “Fortunately, I’ve just finished packing”
Given the stressful preparation, Hettich-Walz was very satisfied with the result: “It was a very bumpy preparation. I was still at home yesterday and had planned a day of training for today. I was very happy that I had just finished packing, otherwise I would have forgotten everything else. I tried to stay cool and for that I am very, very happy with my race.” The race was also important for the 29-year-old Bavarian because she fulfilled the DSV’s internal qualification standards for the Winter Olympics by finishing sixth.