Benedikt Doll has ended the medal curse for the German biathlon men.
The 33-year-old won bronze in the 20 km individual at the World Championships in Nove Mesto after a strong performance. The DSV biathletes had to wait 1092 days for precious metal at a major event. On Tuesday, Janina Hettich-Walz had already won silver in the women’s individual for the German Ski Association (DSV).
“Everything came together. I’m incredibly happy. It was really fun,” said Doll on “ARD”. It was the veteran’s sixth World Championship medal, the second in an individual race after gold in the sprint in 2017.
Biathlon superstar Bö is only missing a victory on Björndalen
Johannes Thingnes Bö won his 19th world title with a shooting error. The 30-year-old clearly won in 45:49.0 minutes ahead of his brother Tarjei Bö (1/+58.9 seconds) and Doll, who was 1:53.3 minutes behind after a shooting error.
After defending his title, superstar Bö is only one World Cup victory behind legend Ole Einar Björndalen. Roman Rees (2 errors), Johannes Kühn (4) and Philipp Horn (5) had nothing to do with the outcome of the race.
The last medal for the German men to date was won by Arnd Peiffer (silver in the individual) in 2021. The last World Cup triumph to date was five years ago, Peiffer won in Östersund in 2019.
The men did not win a medal at the last two major events.