Celebrations from the German women at the home World Cup in Oberhof. The DSV quartet made it to the podium. The victory went overwhelmingly to France.
Selina Grotian, Julia Tannheimer, Janina Hettich-Walz and Franziska Preuß came third for the second time this winter after 4×6 kilometers with one penalty loop and 13 spares.
In the victory of the French relay team with Lou Jeanmonnot, Ocean Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and Julia Simon (0 penalties after shooting errors, eight spares), Norway came second (1 penalty loop/7 spares, + 53.7 seconds). The German quartet finished 1:28.4 minutes behind the winning team.
Decision in the last shooting
The German victory for second or third place was decided in the last shooting of the race, when the German final runner Franziska Preuß and the Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide came to the shooting in second and third place at the same time. The Norwegian made no mistakes, Preuss fell back to third place with three spare rounds. The overall World Cup winner from the previous season secured third place all the way to the finish.
Starting runner Grotian has to go into the penalty loop
The German starting runner Selina Grotian came through cleanly this time lying down after her lying mistake with two penalties from Thursday’s sprint. But it didn’t work standing up at all. The three spares were not enough for three shooting errors, Grotian had to go into the penalty loop once and fell from second place after the prone stage to 14th place after the standing stage.
And that, according to Grotian, was also due to the icy temperatures on the Rennsteig in Thuringia: “As soon as I started, I thought, ‘Oh, this could be difficult’. Unfortunately, my hands were two blocks of ice. I was hoping that I could get the magazine engaged. Then there was a problem. The trigger wasn’t there properly because I didn’t have the feeling in my hand.”explained the 21-year-old, who finished tenth and handed over to second runner Julia Tannheimer, 37.5 seconds behind the leader.
At least Grotian managed to make up a few places and important time with the third-best running time. But the Mittenwald native wasn’t satisfied with her running either. “It was very slow and very tough today, it all looked like slow motion. Today was a really tough day on the track. The conditions were really very slow.”
Swede Magnusson with great bad luck
The Swede Anna Magnusson had an even worse time of it at the shooting range. When she was lying prone, a strap on her rifle broke. Trying to come to terms with it, the 30-year-old lost important time – and also nerves. After four spare rounds in both stages, Magnusson handed over in 16th place – her teammates were no longer able to make up for the more than 1:30 minute deficit. With two additional penalties, the Swedes finished well behind in fifth place.
Tannheimer fights – and runs up to fifth place
Julia Tannheimer as the second runner brought the German relay team up to fifth place. And that despite having to reload three times while lying down and twice while standing. But the 20-year-old remained without a penalty and handed over to Janina Hettich-Walz with the seventh-best running time and 1:16.5 minutes behind the leader. Victory seemed to be out of reach here, but the podium was only around 35 seconds away.
Hettich-Walz brings the relay to second place
Janina Hettich-Walz then brought the German relay back close to the podium. The strong 29-year-old only had to reload once while lying down. While the competitors made a bunch of mistakes while standing, the vice world champion in the Nove Mesto 2024 individual came through without any mistakes. Hettich-Walz was also fast and with the second-best running time of her lap, she moved the Germans up to second place.
Preuss with three spares third
The German final runner Franziska Preuß started the course with a clear gap of around 1:30 minutes behind France at the top. However, the third-placed Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide was only two seconds away. Slovenia followed 20 seconds behind, Slovakia in fifth were even further behind.
Preuss and Kirkeeide made no mistakes in the last prone attempt. Preuß shot faster and finished seven seconds ahead of the Norwegian. By the time they got to the standing position, the lead had been used up. And while France’s final runner Simon ran confidently to victory without any mistakes, there was a showdown between Preuß and Kirkeeide. With a better end for Norway, the 22-year-old Kirkeeide remained flawless and finished second. Preuß had to reload three times and secured third place.