After burning a top-class biathlon winter and shining especially when it comes to Constance, the pressure on Franziska Preuss was enormous before the World Cup in Lenzerheide. Ten years after winning their previously single medal at a major event, Edelmetall was actually mandatory: Prussia delivered second place in the sprint and the World Cup crown in the chasing race. The successful picture rounded off twice a season bronze, but Prussia cannot yet breathe.
After the strong World Cup, the hunt for one of the “greatest dreams” of her career for Franziska Preuss seamlessly, but unfortunately less successful. 15th place in sprint and 13th place in Nove Mesto’s hunting races are not exactly disastrous, compared to the previous season of Preuss and, above all, in view of two fourth places by her worst competitor Lou JeanMonnot, a tunal dabbed for Prussia: winning the overall World Cup.
Before the World Cup in the Czech Republic, the German was still in the lead in the fight for the yellow jersey with 92 points, before the upcoming races in Pokljuka, Slovenian, there are only 36.
Although the German women in Nove Mesto seemed to have quick ski under their feet, Preuss could not keep up with the tip in the trail. In the sprint, 42 seconds lacked ex-long runner Anamarija Lampic and 30 on JeanMonnot, 52 in the pursuer on the fastest and 37 on JeanMonnot.
If you now consider that Prussia and the French woman at the shooting range hardly take anything (91 to 90 percent hit rate), the desired profit of the overall World Cup is clearly in danger – especially since the warm weather and the Sulzig snow in PoCljuka should once again play more into the cards to the stronger runners.
In addition, there is a not insignificant fact in biathlon: the psyche. Preuss, who celebrated her 31st birthday on Tuesday, bluntly admitted that it “rattles in the rear room” after the sprint in Nove Mesto, completely unusual three mistakes in the pursuer’s first lying on the first lying down underpinning the impression that the role of the hunted did not take strength.
Biathlon thriller “for every point”
However, hardly “the child had fallen into the fountain” (original sound: Preuss), the DSV ski hunter delivered again and operated with three error-free deposits. “I managed that I didn’t let myself be hanged and made three good shooting. I take that for next week,” said the German team’s leading wolf.
Taking with her to Pokljuka, Prussia should also take a look at her previous dream winter: In the 16 out of a total of 21 individual races, she had two wins, and ten times she landed on the podium. It is the best winter of the career, the Germans, which was repeatedly considered a legitimate heir to the throne of the very big DSV biathlete in her career, but was just as steadily slowed down by her body.
The statistics are likely to give Prussia more than enough self -confidence, according to Martina Beck (02/02), Kati Wilhelm (05/06), Andrea Henkel (06/07), Magdalena Neuner (07/08, 09/10, 11/12) and Laura Dahlmeier (16/17) for the sixth German winner of the yellow trark.
Until then, however, there are still five individual races to be completed, for which Preuss itself has long since given the direction of march: “You fight for every point”. It starts on Thursday (11:30 a.m. in sport.de-Live ticker) with the shortened single.