Before things get serious again on Saturday, the German biathletes used the race-free Friday in different ways. While one DSV star worked on the finishing touches, others devoted themselves to active relaxation.
Franziska Preuß was the only one of the German team to hit the target with a few training shots in the Oberhofer Biathlon Arena; the rest left it to casual cross-country skiing or jogging in the bad weather in the Thuringian Forest.
At least the feared weather chaos, including strong squalls, had not materialized; the 25 centimeters of fresh snow had flattened the ski rollers during the night.
Regeneration was also on the agenda on the non-race day. “I still have 100 pages to read in my book and I want to finish it in January,” revealed Philipp Nawrath.
Video: Emotional biathlon gesture for dead colleague
After his strong second place in the sprint on Saturday, the 32-year-old goes into the pursuit 13 seconds behind sprint winner Tommaso Giacomel (from 12:00 p.m. in the LIVE ticker).
“I also have to be on the lookout for mistakes, but first and foremost I have to run my own race again,” said the Allgäu native.
Meanwhile, Philipp Horn (7th) and David Zobel (12th), who also have a good starting position in the hunting race, threw a few darts at the dartboard in the Bundeswehr barracks in Oberhof.
Advancement of the biathlon sprint “correctly”
Due to the predicted capricious weather with wind gusts of up to 80 km/h, the organizers postponed the women’s sprint by one day to Thursday. Although it wasn’t as bad as feared, the decision was still the right one, race director Peter Sendel made it clear.
“If you look at the weather now, you could have won the race. But we were patted on the back for a decision that wasn’t easy,” said Sendel. Even a day later, we are still happy with it, said the 1998 Olympic relay champion.
Since many athletes, including some Germans, still have to qualify for the Olympic Games in four weeks, a cancellation would have been much worse.