Zhangjiakou (dpa) – Individual Olympic champion Denise Herrmann is the final runner for the German women’s relay at the Winter Games in China.
With starting runner Vanessa Voigt, Vanessa Hinz and Franziska Preuss, the biathletes in Zhangjiakou want to win an Olympic medal in the relay for the first time since 2010. In Vancouver twelve years ago there was bronze, in 2014 and 2018 the team of the German Ski Association went away empty-handed and missed the podium.
In the Olympic line-up, but in a different order, the ski hunters completed only one race this winter and took fourth place in Hochfilzen in December. At that time, Preuss was still the last runner instead of Herrmann. It was not enough for the runners-up world champions to achieve a podium finish in the World Cup this season.
Favorite in the mountains northwest of Beijing is world champion Norway. However, the Scandinavians will have to do without three-time world champion Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, who returned home after collapsing on Sunday. Germany has never won Olympic gold in the current format over 4 x 6 kilometers, the last triumph was in Salt Lake City in 2002, when Kati Wilhelm was the first to cross the finish line after 4 x 7.5 kilometers.