This is likely to be a preliminary decision in the fight to win the overall World Cup for biathletes: The Swede Elvira Öberg, who recently won the mass start in Ruhpolding, has to forego the upcoming World Cup in Antholz due to illness. This was confirmed by third place in the overall World Cup ranking on Wednesday.
“This rollercoaster season just seems to continue because today I woke up with symptoms of an impending cold,” Sweden’s biathlon star Elvira Öberg addressed her followers on Instagram.
And further: “I am not prepared to risk my health at this stage of the season. Therefore it is very unlikely that I will race this week.”
The last Biathlon World Cup begins in Antholz on Thursday before the highlight of the 2024/25 winter, the World Championships in Lenzerheide (February 9th to 23rd). For the women, on Thursday (2:30 p.m. in sport.de-LIVE ticker) the sprint is on the program, followed on Friday by the hunting race (1:00 p.m. Ur im sport.de-LIVE ticker), on Sunday the women will go to the final stage of the relay (12:05 p.m. in sport.de-LIVE ticker) at the start.
Öberg is taking the break primarily with a view to the World Cup, where the 25-year-old is one of the big favorites.
“I’m devastated, but the only thing I can do now is to rest and get fit again in time for the World Championships. Hopefully the Italian sun will help me with that,” Öberg confirms where her focus lies.
Biathlon: The fight for overall World Cup victory is becoming a long way off
The Olympic relay champion in Beijing does not yet have a World Championship title on her resume; this also applies to an individual medal in world championships. A circumstance that is clearly set to change in Lenzerheide.
In return, Öberg accepts a major setback in the fight for the yellow jersey. With nine races still remaining, Öberg is 178 points behind Franziska Preuß (749 points). The Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot ranks between the two ski hunters with 607 points.
Last Sunday, the 25-year-old won the mass start in Ruhpolding and then declared the overall World Cup “as a big goal”.