The two German biathlon duos Denise Herrmann-Wick/Benedikt Doll and Vanessa Voigt/Philipp Nawrath just missed the podium at the return of the World Team Challenge to Gelsenkirchen.
The mixed teams made too many shooting errors in the mass start and pursuit race on Wednesday evening (28.12.22) at the 19th edition in the Schalke Arena. With the success of the overall World Cup leaders Julia Simon and Fabien Claude from France (7 shooting errors), Herrmann-Wick and Doll took fourth place with a total of 14 penalties. They finished 58.2 seconds behind the winners. Nawrath and Voigt (10) finished right behind, 1:03.5 behind.
“Of course we’re a bit shaken. I screwed that up shooting in the first part of the race.”Herrmann-Wick said after a total of nine errors in eight shooting bouts on ZDF. “But”she added with a smile, “It’s still a cool event.” Vanessa Voigt, fifth with Philipp Nawrath, raved about “Goosebumps Moments”.
Norway with a strong start in the Schalker Arena
Norway still dominated in the first part. Vetle Sjastad Christiansen and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, who finished second, had three penalties in the mass start, Voigt and Nawrath six times and Herrmann-Wick and Doll even three more times.
The athletes of the German Ski Association (DSV) were no longer able to catch up, although the deficit was halved before the rainy chase race. Doll made two penalties in the final standing stage that cost him and Herrmann-Wick the podium. France put Norway under direct pressure thanks to strong shooting and ended up winning by 33.8 seconds.
The traditional Skijäger event, which is not part of the World Cup, recently took place twice without spectators in Ruhpolding due to the corona pandemic.