The German women’s relay won bronze in Beijing. In Kontiolahti, Finland, that was not to be the case. The German women missed a podium place.
The German biathletes just missed the podium in the Kontiolahti relay. After two penalties by Vanessa Hinz and a total of nine spare rounds, the DSV quartet with Olympic champion Denise Herrmann, starting skier Vanessa Voigt and Franziska Preuss finished fourth. Norway won the first race after the Olympic Winter Games ahead of Sweden and Italy, who were awarded gold in Beijing.
The German quartet had won bronze in China. “There are no excuses. I don’t even know what to say anymore,” Hinz said angrily on the ZDF microphone after her missed shots while standing. The skiers from Russia and Belarus had been excluded from all international events by the Biathlon World Association IBU “until further notice”.
The men’s relay continues on Friday (2.30 p.m. in the t-online live ticker) before the sprint races and the pursuers are on the program at the weekend. The Olympic winter will then end with the World Cups in Otepää (Estonia) and at Holmenkollen in Oslo (Norway).