At the end of her career, biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick won the sprint at the World Cup finals in Oslo. The world champion also secured the small crystal ball.
The story could hardly have been written better: Herrmann-Wick clinched her third World Cup victory of the season at the legendary Holmenkollen on Saturday (03/18/2023). Just a few days ago, the 34-year-old Olympic champion announced the end of her career. With her success in Oslo, she also defended her lead in the sprint total and secured the small crystal globe. She had already done that in the 2019/20 season.
“It’s very emotional. I was really nervous and just heard the crystal ball and the sprint score all week“, Herrmann-Wick gave an insight into her emotional world after the race: “But I guess I need a bit of pressure to perform properly. I’m incredibly proud and happy. In front of so many friends and family – this is pure pleasure.“
Herrmann-Wick: “Attack is the best defense”
The basis for her eleventh World Cup victory in an individual race was a flawless performance on the shooting range. On the cross-country ski run, she showed her usual strength and secured victory with the fastest time over the 7.5 kilometers (21:06.5 minutes) in a heart-stopping final ahead of the Swede Hanna Öberg, who was also flawless (+3.5 seconds). Third place went to their compatriot Anna Magnusson (0 errors/+33.1 sec.).
“I tried to go in offensively“, Herrmann-Wick explained their tactics. True to the motto: “Attack is the best defense. It went well. I had good skis under my feet. I also stayed true to myself at the shooting range and am glad that I was able to keep my nerves under control.”
Simon takes victory in the overall World Cup
Julia Simon secured early victory in the overall standings. The Frenchwoman was fifth in the sprint and can no longer be pushed out of first place in the overall World Cup in the final mass start on Sunday (3:10 p.m. in the sports show live stream). The small crystal ball also beckons her there.
The reigning overall World Cup winner Marte Olsbu Röiseland was 31st. Like the French Anais Chevalier-Bouchet, compatriot Tiril Eckhoff and Herrmann-Wick, the three-time Olympic champion ends her career on Sunday.
A moment of shock at the first shooting
After the weather-related postponement on the previous day, Herrmann-Wick started the race with the number 19 car in the best external conditions this time. Even if the course was difficult to walk through the dull snow, she completed a strong first lap as usual and showed no nerves when shooting. However, one cartridge fired from the rifle, losing valuable seconds.
Thrilling finale in the last meters
The Saxon completed the second fastest round of all her competitors and once again showed her class at the shooting range: she turned the five targets from black to white in a hurry. Dorothea Wierer, her fiercest competitor in the battle for the overall sprint ranking, had already made a mistake at this point, which meant that Herrmann-Wick could no longer take the small crystal ball.
In the fight for the day’s victory, however, things got exciting again. Because Öberg didn’t show any mistakes at the shooting range and was just as fast on the track. Herrmann-Wick’s lead after shooting was six seconds, which she ran home in the final meters, cheered on by the Norwegian crowd.
Hettich-Walz surprises in the top ten
Janina-Hettich Walz also delivered a strong race. Like Herrmann-Wick, she shot clean to finish eighth, 43.7 seconds back. Hanna Kebinger afforded a “angry and self-inflicted“Error and finished 17th. Despite this, she was”not unhappy with her race“.
Vanessa Voigt had to place herself further down the field in 41st place, although she shot clean. But as so often this season, the Thuringian didn’t fit together when it came to running. “If the skis don’t fit, you can see that in the result“, was her conclusion. But she was much happier for Herrmann-Wick: “What impressed me is how cool Denise stayed. It is clear that she deserved the bullet.“
Grotian and Spark with a successful premiere
With Selina Grotian, who caused a sensation with four gold medals at the Junior World Championships, and individual European champion Lisa Maria Spark, two DSV talents also celebrated their World Cup debut. Grotian started strong and after a first clean stage was within striking distance of the leaders. She fell back after two penalties in standing. But she could be satisfied with rank 44 at her premiere.
Spark, on the other hand, remained error-free. Although she was significantly slower than Grotian on the cross-country ski run, she also celebrated a successful debut in 53rd place. Anna Weidel ended up in 82nd place with three penalties. For Sophia Schneider, fifth in the sprint at the World Championships, the season ended prematurely. The 25-year-old misses the Oslo races as a result of her virus infection from the previous week.
“Our mom” Herrmann-Wick leaves the biathlon stage
With Herrmann-Wick, the German biathlon women are losing their figurehead of the past few years. The former cross-country skier became Olympic champion in singles in Beijing in 2022, in 2019 she won World Cup gold in the pursuit and in 2023 at her home World Cup in Oberhof also gold in the sprint.
The importance of Herrmann-Wick for the German team was underlined by the young Sophia Schneider at the home World Cup. she be “our mommy. And if mommy is fine, we’re all fine”.