Franziska Preuß only finished fifth at the Oslo’s chase race on Saturday afternoon and thus lost her leadership in the overall biathlon World Cup to the victorious Lou JeanMonnot. Now everything depends on the crucial mass start race on Sunday (from 1:15 p.m.).
After the two duel operators around the large crystal ball had a mistake in the first two shooting deposits in the first two shooting deposits and half of the race were still on the top, the preliminary decision was made on the first standing stop.
While the French woman Lou JeanMonnot remained without a mistake in standing shooting, Franziska Preuß made two misconceptions and consequently came from the double penalty round.
“I have to let it sink now,” said the Oberbayiner at the “ARD” microphone, when she was ultimately also fifth by Elvira Öberg, Lena Häcki-Groß and Ida Lien.
“I gave everything and fought really for every position, but I didn’t have a chance,” said Prussia full of disappointment with the fact that the Swedish Öberg was just under four seconds in front of her. If Preuss had finished second, she could have defended her leadership in the overall World Cup.
Showdown on Sunday in the mass start
“It hurts today, but now I can’t change it anymore,” said Preuss, who can still win the overall World Cup on Sunday. In the last race of the season, the German flagship biathlete now starts with a gap of five points on Lou JeanMonnot in the overall ranking.
There was praise from the German coaching team for their last shooting on Saturday, when she was sure to get a flawless series: “I just tried to do better than on the attack before that. It really hurt, no idea what was going on. Maybe it was nervous,” said Preuss, who is now preparing for the showdown on Sunday.