The German biathlon men missed the required compensation in the pursuit at the home World Cup in Oberhof and caused the next bitter disappointment.
Philipp Nawrath improved by eleven places in front of 20,500 fans on the Rennsteig, but was still the best DSV athlete in the 12.5 km race in 16th place. Justus Strelow was 17th. After a French triple victory in the sprint, the Norwegians dominated this time. Sturla Holm Lägreid triumphed with two shooting errors, just ahead of Tarjei Bö (1/+5.2 seconds) and Johannes Thingnes Bö (3/+19.7).
In total, the German team again made 25 shooting errors, after having already suffered badly in the sprint (17). Despite having the second fastest running time, Nawrath (4) was over a minute behind the winner. Strelow only missed once, but was too slow on the trail. Danilo Riethmüller (4), who recently came second in the mass start in Grand Bornand, had to settle for 25th place.
Before the race, DSV sports director Felix Bitterling called for a clear reaction. “It’s not a general shooting problem, the problem is between the ears. Everyone feels the pressure, we want to do particularly well. But I’ve never heard a footballer complain about pressure at a home game,” said Bitterling in the ” ZDF”. Of course, with so many fans there are “distractions, but you have to deal with that.”
At the end of the World Cup in Oberhof on Sunday at the latest, they want to have a say again in the single mixed (12.20 p.m.) and mixed relay (2.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport), said Bitterling. Afterwards we go directly to Ruhpolding, where the men’s individual over 20 km takes place on Wednesday.