In addition to Franziska Preuß, Selina Grotian, who is just 20 years old, is now shaking up the Biathlon World Cup. After the double victory in the mass start, the German Ski Association (DSV) is looking forward to the next trimester.
Selina Grotian and Franziska Preuß crowned what was from a German perspective a very successful first third of the season with a double victory on Sunday.
“The two made their own Christmas present, that was incredibly strong. The conditions weren’t good at all. But they were strong mentally, showed the will – it was phenomenal,” said women’s coach Kristian Mehringer afterwards, cheering about the top team -Performance of his duo.
While Preuß was able to shine at all three World Cup events this season and achieved a total of three victories and seven podium places from the last seven races, it was the first big highlight for Grotian. She had never been on a podium before in her young World Cup career, and she now achieved the coup in Annecy, France.
“I have to say, I’m just flabbergasted right now,” she said on the “ARD” microphone after the race: “I don’t even have the words for it right now. I still can’t believe that I actually just won. “
German biathletes want to improve at the home World Cups
Felix Bitterling was also thrilled. The “fantastic” Grotian is “a huge promise for the future,” said the DSV sports director happily.
Bitterling was able to draw an extremely positive interim conclusion after the first trimester of the season. “We’re doing really well. Last year we had a Star World Cup right at the start of the season, but this time we were consistently good, including across the board,” said the DSV official. He sees “a healthy and very good development. We want to build on that in January at our home World Cups.”
However, continuing the series of successes in the new year at the home World Cups will not be a sure-fire success, warned the sports director: “We know that there are things that we definitely have to continue working on. And we also know that after such a flow it won’t be completely possible “It’s easy. But we’ll adapt to it and try the best.”