The start of the 2022/23 biathlon winter could hardly have gone better for the German team. The expectations of the still relatively inexperienced team were not the greatest, but the second guard also showed top performances in Kontiolahti, Finland.
sport.de introduces the rather unknown faces in the German biathlon team:
David Zobel (26 years/15 starts in the World Cup):
“Moments of happiness! Feelings of happiness! I’m bubbling over with happiness,” 26-year-old David Zobel cheered on the “ARD” microphones after he climbed the podium for the first time in third place in the individual competition in the Finnish Bear Bay in his 13th World Cup appearance. For the first time he managed four shooting bouts without errors in the elimination competitions in Vuokatti, Finland, within the framework of a competition, that he was now able to add 20 perfect shots in the World Cup is more than he could have imagined.
At 26, Zobel is the “chick” of the German men’s team together with Justus Strelow, who is six months younger. The fact that Zobel was able to set the first really big exclamation mark of the winter is “tremendously good” for the team, emphasized national biathlon coach Mark Kirchner, with a view to the resignations of the experienced guarantors of success Simon Schempp, Arnd Peiffer and Erik Lesser in recent years.
In terms of running, Zobel is already on a solid track, but in recent years his standing position has prevented better results. If he can keep up the current trend, Zobel should establish himself in the World Cup team.
Justus Strelow (25 years/9 starts in the World Cup)
When it comes to standing shooting, Justus Strelow can hardly be beaten by any ski hunter: Last winter, the 25-year-old, who mostly competed in the IBU Cup, cleared an outstanding 96 percent of all targets.
Very strong shooting performances were also the basis for Strelow being able to secure a place in the World Cup team in Vuokatti. However, it is also noticeable that the biathlete from SG Stahl Schmiedeberg has improved significantly on the cross-country ski run compared to last year. In the sprint he reached the 29th in Kontilahti and the 36th in the pursuit.
Of course, there is still room for improvement, but when Strelow was allowed to take part in the season opening in Oestersund last winter, it was only enough for the 84th time. A clear trend that fuels hope.
Sophia Schneider (25 years/8 starts in the World Cup)
Sophia Schneider is probably the biggest surprise of the winter that has just begun. The fact that the 25-year-old was able to prevail against experienced athletes such as Vanessa Hinz or Janina Hettich-Walz in the fight for a place in the DSV squad can be seen as such. The fact that Schneider, after four races and eleventh place in the individual as well as eighth place in the sprint, already has the internal World Championship norm in his pocket is actually a big sensation. After all, Schneider’s top result in four previous World Cup starts was 52nd place.
Striking: Schneider burned several top 10 times into the snow. A fortune that, according to her own statement, became apparent early on, but which she had not been able to implement in recent years. Coach and ex-biathlete Andreas Birnbacher has now released her potential again, according to Schneider on “ARD”.
“Last year I even competed in the Germany Cup and first had to work my way back up to the IBU Cup, now I’m standing here,” she summarized with a smile.
Juliane Frühwirt (24 years/7 starts in the World Cup)
In 2016, Frühwirt won gold at the Youth Olympic Winter Games, twice silver at the Junior World Championships in 2019 and finished bronze at the German Championships in 2022 in the individual and sprint. In the World Cup, however, the 24-year-old has not yet been able to meet the expectations that this vita arouses.
Also at the start of the current winter, Frühwirt was the weakest German athlete, but she collected World Cup points for the first time with rank 23 in the individual.
The much-needed increase on the course seems to have been successful (“I’m relieved that I can finally run properly and not just follow behind like last year”), but it hasn’t been beneficial to her shooting performance, which has usually been very good so far: Three errors in the sprint and all eight in the pursuer are clearly too many for the early host.
Marc Affeldt