There was a little surprise in the German biathletes’ camp before the first competition of the World Championships in Nove Mesto: When the mixed relays fight for gold, silver and bronze on Wednesday (5:20 p.m.), Benedikt Doll will only be a spectator. The DSV announced this on Tuesday.
Justus Strelow, Philipp Nawrath, Vanessa Voigt and Franziska Preuß will form the German mixed relay team on Wednesday (5:20 p.m.).
Doll, eighth in the overall World Cup and the best German ski hunter, is not part of the squad. In the last races before the World Cup, the 33-year-old had to struggle with major problems on the shooting range, but his absence from the German mixed quartet probably also has health reasons.
Doll struggled with “a bit of a cold” during the final training course in Ridnaun and only traveled to the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
For the DSV, a mixed relay lineup without the 2017 sprint world champion from Hochfilzen is an absolute rarity: Doll is missing from the squad for the first time in three years.
DSV’s black series should end
Even without the two-time winner of the season, a black series should finally end on Wednesday: in the now traditional opening race, the Germans recently came away empty-handed four times in a row. In 2019, Vanessa Hinz, Denise Herrmann-Wick, Arnd Peiffer and Doll won silver behind Norway for the last time. Last year, the German team finished sixth at the home World Cup in Oberhof.
The path to the title this year will only go through the Norwegian foursome, which is made up of the two Bö brothers Tarjei and Johannes Thingnes as well as Karoline Offigstad Knotten and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold. The French also have high hopes of a place on the podium.
Incidentally, there is no danger of Doll being used for the men’s first individual race, the sprint on Saturday (5:05 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport).