The German biathletes are taking part in the World Cup in Kontiolahti with only five instead of six possible starters. One is missing due to a broken finger. The sports director is also using the upcoming World Cup once again to take a general look at German performance.
Without the resigned Franziska Preuß and without Olympic bronze medalist Justus Strelow, the post-Olympic final World Cup trimester begins for the German biathletes on Thursday (March 5, 2026). The German ski hunters traveled to Kontiolahti in Finland with only five starters instead of the possible six.
Strelow and Weidel are missing in Finland
Justus Strelow, who was actually nominated, is missing from the men’s category and Anna Weidel from the women’s category. The loss of Strelow from Saxony was particularly painful, as sports director Felix Bitterling explains: “The background to the five starting positions is the short-term absences of Justus Strelow, who broke a finger, and Anna Weidel, who is ill.” And because the German IBU Cup team is far away for two weekends in the USA, according to Bitterling, they decided not to be nominated for the World Cup.
The German team for Kontiolahti consists of Vanessa Voigt, Janina Hettich-Walz, Selina Grotian, Julia Tannheimer and Marlene Fichtner for the women and for the men Philipp Horn, Philipp Nawrath, David Zobel, Lucas Fratzscher and Leonhard “Leo” Pfund.
Voigt is looking forward to the last trimester
Leo Pfund, who recently left the IBU Cup with a pursuit victory, as well as Philipp Horn and Vanessa Voigt are particularly looking forward to Knotiolahti. Voigt, who finished fourth in the individual Olympic Games, had already said in Antholz that she “attack again in the last trimester” and want to fight for the podium places: “I can always release my strength again in the last trimester.”
Horn wants to “continue at the shooting range”
Horn caught a cold right after the Olympics, “I’m now healthy again and I’m really looking forward to the last three weeks of the season. Especially at the shooting range, I want to continue exactly where I left off in Antholz.” The 31-year-old narrowly missed out on a medal in fourth place in the Olympic mass start.
Bitterling: “Share Doomsday mood not”
Sports director Bitterling also used the look at the upcoming third-to-last World Cup of the season to look back at the Olympics: “We cannot and do not want to be satisfied with just one medal in German biathlon. Our demands as a team and association are different, and we face that.”the outgoing sports director is quoted in the press release from the German Ski Association. “Nevertheless, we do not share the sometimes very acute doom and gloom surrounding German biathlon. We saw many strong performances at the Olympics, and several results were very narrowly short of the medals.”
Bitterling: Podium places are possible
Many athletes also showed their best performances at the peak of the season. According to Bitterling, German biathlon is up to date “not about the big, dominant individual stars of years gone by.” Nevertheless, the German team is made up “high-performing athletes who need an almost perfect day to be on the podium.”
In the two individual competitions on Thursday and Friday as well as the mass start and relays on the weekend, the Germans have the next chance for such a perfect day.
