Philipp Nawrath recently came third in the sprint in Finland. His teammate Danilo Riethmüller put in a strong performance in the mass start.
In the mass start it’s fast and it’s tight. The biathletes have to adapt, which makes the race more complicated – and also puts pressure. On Sunday in Kontiolahti (Finland), the Frenchman Eric Perrot (3:12.9) came out on top, ahead of the Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet (+9.1) and the Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid (+11.5). The best German was Danilo Riethmüller in fourth place (+17.7), who presented himself very well and achieved his best career result. After finishing fourth in the mixed relay, Riethmüller now achieved this result in a competition on his own.
After the mass start he said on ARD: “In terms of feeling, I lacked the punch today. But I tried to do it by shooting. Overall, I’m happy with the day today.”
From the start the field was very close together and the Norwegians around Sturla Holm Laegreid and Johannes Thingnes Bö were in the lead. Philipp Nawrath was also able to keep up well recently as the best German in the individual. As did the Frenchman Émilien Jacquelin, who performed just as well this season. Then the first prone attack occurred. Nawrath made a mistake once and had to complete a penalty lap. Things went better for Justus Strelow, who was just as error-free as Johannes Kühn.
Strelow came back onto the track in third place, Kühn in eighth. Danilo Riethmüller also showed a flawless shooting performance. The field was led by the Norwegians Endre Strömsheim and Sturla Holm Laegreid. In the second shooting, things went well again for Nawrath, as well as for Riethmüller. Strelow and Kühn had to complete one lap, Philipp Horn even had to complete two. Strömsheim was still leading the field at the front, together with his compatriot Vetle Sjastad Christiansen. At this point, there were five Norwegians among the top eight athletes.
Strömsheim and Christiansen were the first to arrive at the standing position. But Strömsheim made two mistakes. Nawrath also made two mistakes. Boldly even three times. Strelow once. Riethmüller didn’t have to complete a star lap, as he came back onto the track five seconds behind the leading Frenchman Eric Perrot and at this point had a chance of getting on the podium in his third mass start. Strelow also found a connection despite his mistakes because he ran very well.
At the final shooting, Laegreid and Perrot arrived first. Riethmüller was also there. Riethmüller and Laegreid had to go around once. Perrot pulled away at the front. Followed closely by Laegreid and the Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet. Riethmüller was eight seconds behind. He fought for third place until the end – in the end it was just not enough. Laegreid was overtaken by Quentin Fillon Maillet shortly before the finish.