Swede Hanna Oeberg clearly wins the first individual competition of the season. The team of German coach Johannes Lukas is in impressive early form in Kontiolahti.
Sometimes a missed shot decides between weal and woe in biathlon – especially in the individual competition, in which the runners collect penalty minutes instead of penalty laps. Denise Herrmann-Wick also had to experience this on Wednesday (November 30th, 2022) at the World Cup opener in Kontiolahti.
Germany’s top runner, Olympic champion in this discipline, stood at the last shooting. She scored four, then aimed for the last shot of the day. However, she missed that last shot with her new weapon – and finished sixth after two penalties. It was that damn one minute too many for the podium.
“I waited a bit too long for the last shot,” said Herrmann-Wick in the sports show. “But overall it was a good race.”
Vanessa Voigt best German
The winner in Finland was Hanna Oeberg of Sweden, who only had one penalty, ahead of the flawless Norwegian Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (36.5 seconds back) and Lisa Vittozzi (Italy, + 39.7 seconds). As the best German, Vanessa Voigt from Thuringia was fourth (+ 1:00.5 minutes).
The sports show expert Erik Lesser said before the first race: “This year nothing goes past the two Oeberg sisters.” He was right about at least one. Elvira Oeberg finished ninth with three penalties.
A Swede already triumphed in the men’s category
The Swedes, coached by Johannes Lukas from Munich, are celebrating a strong start to the season: Martin Ponsiluoma won the men’s event on Tuesday, and the next blue-yellow coup followed.
Like the DSV men, the German women can also be satisfied with their start to the season. In addition to the strong Voigt and Herrmann-Wick, Sophia Schneider, Anna Weidel and Juliane Frühwirt also ranked well. They all seemed happy. “I think it’s okay for a start,” said Weidel on the Sportschau microphone.
Preuss is missing in the German team – Eckhoff and Röiseland in Norway
Another German, on the other hand, had to sit out: Franziska Preuss was missing at the start of the World Cup. “Franziska Preuss doesn’t feel 100 percent fit. To ensure her health, we decided to give her two more days to recover and do some easy training,” said team doctor Katharina Blume. Preuss, who won bronze in the relay at the Olympics in Beijing, had to struggle with health problems again and again last season.
Neither did the two top Norwegian athletes, Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Röiseland, compete in Kontiolahti. They are both struggling with health problems after corona infections and are completely absent from the opening competitions in Finland.