For a long time it looked like a second place for the German biathlon relay team at the World Cup in Östersund. Then Johannes Kühn had to go into the penalty loop.
24 hours after the German women’s relay took third place, the men also made it onto the podium. The quartet of Benedikt Doll, Philipp Nawrath, Johannes Kühn and David Zobel had to admit defeat to Norway (7 spares) and France (11) over the 4 x 7.5 kilometers on Thursday after a total of 16 spares.
Kühn gave up second place with a penalty in the last shooting. So France pushed past. Doll was nevertheless satisfied in the ZDF interview afterwards. “Third place is good. The many reloads weren’t a brilliant achievement, but we were running well.”
Norway expands series
On the other hand, Norway with the brothers Tarjei and Johannes Thingnes Bö as well as Endre Strömsheim and Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen extended their impressive winning streak in relay races. They had already won all five World Cup competitions last season. The lead over France at the finish was 20 seconds. In the end, Germany was 50 seconds behind.
Kühn: “The air was out”
“Final runner is not my favorite discipline“said Kühn after the race.”It was a bit wobbly lying down. It was difficult to stand, I was out of breath. It was difficult to maintain concentration. Annoying.”
Kühn only moved into the relay for Roman Rees. Like Justus Strelow, he had to withdraw from the relay race at short notice after Sunday’s sensational double success in the individual race due to cold symptoms.
Zobel avoids penalty
Starting runner Zobel, who had slipped into the team for Strelow, got off to a mixed start. At the shooting range, the first bullet missed the target. In total he had to reload three times, but was just able to avoid the early penalty. On the course he was able to minimize the gap until the second shooting and gained over ten seconds. In the standing position, the only missed shot was quickly corrected.
Because Zobel had the best running time of all the starting runners, the gap to the equally leading Swiss and French was only 15 seconds. “I’ll have Justus (Strelow, editor) show me prone shooting again“Zobel smiled afterwards.”That was a bad shot. But the running was good.“
Nawrath in step with Norway
Nawrath – also thanks to the good material from the Germans – really accelerated on the cross-country ski trail and ran up to second place by the first shooting. With a spare shot while lying down, he maintained contact with the tip. And even while standing there was only one missed shot, which meant that he handed the lead to Doll almost at the same time as Norway’s Tarjei Bö. Co-favorites Sweden had already scored two penalties at this point and were over two and a half minutes behind.
“I knew my form was right“said Nawrath, referring to his recent somewhat disappointing performance in the singles. “I was happy to be part of the season again. Of course, it’s a bit of a shame when the two supposedly best are out. But it turned out quite well.”
Doll staggers but doesn’t fall
Doll had to deal with Johannes Thingnes Bö on the track and did well. Both athletes took turns leading the way until the first shooting. Doll shot quickly and made two errors. Just one gust. Nevertheless, both of them returned to the track almost at the same time. This time, however, the Norwegian turned on the turbo and extended his lead.
While standing, Bö hit the target with five direct hits, while Doll worked up a sweat with three spare rounds. But he also just avoided the penalty. Nevertheless, the gap had grown to almost 40 seconds by the time the changeover took place. France had also come within ten seconds from behind.
Kühn gives up second place
Final runner Kühn also didn’t stay at the shooting range without a clean slate. Two mistakes while lying down were initially manageable. Also because pursuers France also had to reload with Quentin Fillon Maillet. While Christiansen ran the race home confidently for Norway, Kühn showed nerves in the last shooting and had to go into the penalty loop. France made no mistakes with Fillon Maillet and moved past.
Strong start to the season for the German biathletes
Nevertheless, the DSV can be more than satisfied with its performance so far. For the German team it was already the sixth podium finish in the sixth race at the first stop of the season – things last went this well eight years ago at the start of the 2015/2016 season.
“I’m definitely satisfied“said sports director Felix Bitterling. “We’re happy about the podium. It’s not the first. That makes us even happier. We want to keep attacking and hope that it continues like this. But we’re staying on the carpet.”