In the women’s sprint, Franziska Preuß once again narrowly missed the podium. Maybe memories of last year were brought back.
Franziska Preuß first supported herself on her ski poles and then let herself fall into the cold Finnish snow. Perhaps looking at the finish time brought back memories of the start of the World Cup last year. In Östersund, the 30-year-old missed the individual victory by 0.1 seconds. This time she missed the final podium place in Kontiolahti by the same margin. First place on Saturday went to the flawless Czech Marketa Davidova, who last celebrated a victory three years ago. Behind the Czech, Elvira Öberg (+8.8, Sweden, 2 shooting errors) crossed the finish line in second place, while the Finnish Suvi Minkkinen came third.
Preuß once again shone with a great running performance (+29.3 seconds). As in the individual three days ago, when she reached fifth place, the shooting performance was crucial. “The placement is good, but I’m annoyed about the one mistake,” said Preuß on the ARD microphone: “I really wanted to score a zero.”
However, 19-year-old Julia Tannheimer (+21.1), who secured a strong sixth place and participation in the mass start on Sunday, remained faultless. When asked what school grade the high school graduate would give herself in early summer 2024, she answered happily: “One, to one minus, I couldn’t have done much better today.”
Vanessa Voigt, who took third place in the single mixed with Justus Strelow last Sunday and ninth place in the individual, made two shooting errors and ended up in a disappointing 37th place (+1:20.1). “I felt a bit heavy today,” said Voigt: “It wasn’t as easy as in the relay or the individual.”
The other young DSV runners Selina Grotian (20) and Julia Kink (20) played no role in the awarding of the top places after too many shooting errors. Meanwhile, Johanna Puff had to sit out due to illness.
In the sprint, as in the individual, the stars started later than in previous years. The IBU world association decided before the season that the top 15 of the overall World Cup would receive higher starting numbers in the individual and sprint races. While the IBU expects exciting competitions right to the end, the athletes fear disadvantages in the course conditions – this has not been the case so far in the cold conditions in Kontiolahti.
The World Cup will conclude on Sunday in Kontiolahti with the mass starts for biathletes (2:30 p.m.) and female biathletes (5:10 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport) before continuing the following weekend in Hochfilzen, Austria.