The sprint in Oberhof did not go as hoped for the German biathletes. Selina Grotian presented herself strongly in the pursuit on Saturday.
The German biathletes wanted to make up for the results from the sprint in the pursuit, and they partially succeeded.
The French Lou Jeanmonnot (31:14.90) secured victory ahead of the Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide (+18.10) and the Swede Elvira Öberg (+26.20). Selina Groatian was the best German in fifth place (+33.60). Julia Tannheimer crossed the finish line in 12th place and Franziska Preuß in 20th place.
Grotian said on ZDF after the race: “I didn’t let myself be rushed. I wasn’t excited at all today.” Regarding the fans, she said: “It’s brutal, Birgstieg (Birxsteig, Note d. Red.) how loud it is then, especially the last lap. It’s unbelievable.”
The sprint winner Paula Botet started first and hit all the targets in the prone position. The Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide remained just as close on her heels as the French Julia Simon. From the German perspective, the first shooting did not go well. Both Julia Tannheimer, who came ninth in the sprint, and Selina Grotian, who finished tenth in the sprint, started with one mistake. And the World Cup leader in the overall ranking, Franziska Preuß, also missed once. Only Sophie Schneider remained error-free in her World Cup season debut.
Preuß was back in 25th place. Grotian and Tannheimer were in tenth and eleventh place at this point. The leading Botet made two errors in the second shooting and lost time due to the penalty loops. However, Kirkeeide also made two mistakes. Julia Simon took the lead ahead of her colleagues Botet and Jeanne Richard. Grotian came further forward with a flawless performance. Preuss also showed a zero-error performance. Tannheimer missed the targets once.
On the first standing attempt, Simon made four mistakes. Lou Jeanmonnot added and took the lead. She was pursued by the Bulgarian Milena Todorova and Richard. Selina Groatin made a mistake and came back on the track in eighth place. Tannheimer showed an outstanding performance and finished tenth. Franziska Preuß missed the targets once and had to fight her way up from 18th place. Schneider remained clean for the third time in a row.
And Jeanmonnot was also convincing in the last shooting, as she just had to run towards the finish. Behind them was Kirkeeide, who made no mistakes and benefited from those of the competition. Grotian also made no mistakes and chased the podium in a group. In the end she narrowly missed it.