But the Germans had every reason to be happy – and that with a newly assembled team. As with women, he used DSV the last season not for the dress rehearsal, but let the second guard approach. The sports director, Bernd Eisenbichler, then spoke of a “very strong race”. The boys deserved third place. It shows that they are on the right track and can play quite well with the big players.
Start runner Rees always at the front
Roman Rees slipped into the role of Erik Lesser in Antholz. The regular starting runner recharges the batteries at home and has not traveled to South Tyrol. Representative Rees, who could also be part of the relay team in Beijing, did a good job and cleared the ten targets with eleven attempts. The last shot cost a lot of time because Rees thought the target had fallen. He was then a bit out of concept, he said in the Sportschau interview.
On the final lap, Rees lost a bit compared to the top runners Fabien Claude (France/1 spare) and Sturla Holm Laegreid (Norway/2 spares), but sent Philipp Horn into the race in fourth with just under 21 seconds.
Philipp Horn with perfect shooting
Horn, who was lying flat during the week with a gastrointestinal infection, presented himself well recovered and earned a straight A. A clean prone stage put him on the heels of France’s Antonin Guigonnat, who had to reload twice. Tarjei Bö was the first to leave the shooting range, pushing hard and also shooting clean in the standing stage.
But because Horn cleared the targets even faster with a rapid-fire interlude, the gap melted down to ten seconds. After an exhausting final lap, Horn had to let the French and Russians pass him, but handed over in fourth place, 14 seconds behind German relay debutant David Zobel.
Debutant David Zobel ripped off against the top stars
In his first relay race, 25-year-old Zobel had to deal with the top stars of the scene. The newcomer, who secured an Olympic ticket with a strong performance, did not get weak in the duel with Johannes Thingnes Bö, Simon Desthieux and Alexander Loginow. Zobel couldn’t keep up with Bö. The Norwegian is in great form and took advantage of the lab conditions to shoot clean.
While Bö extended his lead to almost a minute, Zobel fought with Desthieux for second place. Clean in prone, Zobel used two spares in standing while Desthieux only used one.
The Frenchman came back on the final lap with a ten second lead and extended his lead. Zobel ran out of breath and trouble threatened from behind in the form of Loginow – but the newcomer saved third place just ahead of Russia. “I’m done. The final loop was really tough, but there weren’t the worst athletes around me either.”, joked Zobel in the sports show.
Lucas Fratzscher fights for podium
Final runner Fratzscher had to let the Russian Eduard Latypow go on the course, but the tables turned on the shooting range. Latypow gambled and went into the penalty loop after the first shooting, Fratzscher cleared and ran behind Norway and France on course for a podium finish. Behind them there was already a gap of around 30 seconds to the Russians.
But it quickly became clear that Fratzscher would need another top shot, because Latypow seemed to be growing wings. In standing, both required a spare.
The German left the track 14 seconds ahead of the Russian. It seemed that only third place was at stake, but because the young Frenchman Eric Perrot went completely blue, Fratzscher and Latypow passed. Shortly before the finish, the strong Russian went past. The jubilation of the German team about the third place with this relay line-up was unlimited.
Status: 01/22/2022, 13:25