Fought hard, but narrowly missed the podium. Franziska Preuß narrowly missed the podium in the pursuit in Lenzerheide.
Double victory for France’s biathletes and once again a strong team performance by the German women in the pursuit in Lenzerheide on Saturday (December 16, 2023): Justine Braisaz-Bouchet’s success ahead of her compatriot Julia Simon included Franziska Preuß, Vanessa Vogt and Janina Hettich-Walz fourth, seventh and eighth places. The fourth German starter Selina Grotian came in 41st place.
In wonderful conditions with sunshine, excellent visibility and little wind at the shooting range, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet secured her second victory in a row. Thanks to a strong shooting performance, Hettich-Walz also had a sniff of a podium place, but a mistake in the last standing position dashed their hopes. Preuß was also fighting for the podium on the final lap, but was unable to catch up with Norwegian Marit Ishol Skogan, who took third place.
Preuß very happy with the race
Preuss then expressed his surprise at the strong performance after the Corona break: “I’m really glad it worked out so well“, she explained after the race on ZDF. Above all, she knew about the two error-free standing stops “very much appreciated“. Because of the lack of oxygen, she sometimes felt like “remote controlled” before. “I’m super happy with fourth place” was her summary.
Vogt, who achieved the fastest pursuit time of all 60 athletes, was also proud of what was shown. “It’s been very difficult the last few days, also mentally. I asked myself: ‘Where did my form from Östersund go?’ It’s been a steady decline for two weeks now, but today was proof that I still have it.“She’s been struggling recently, especially with her mileage. Now she wants to do this.”Ray of hope” build up.
Braisaz-Bouchet in the lead from the start
After her victory in the sprint on Thursday, Braisaz-Bouchet was the first athlete to go onto the cross-country ski trail. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold from Norway and Lisa Vittozzi from Italy followed almost twelve and 17 seconds behind.
Franziska Preuß was the first German starter to start the hunt in seventh place, just under a minute behind. Janina Hettich-Walz (+1:29 min), Vanessa Vogt (+1:56 min) and Selina Grotian (+2:39 min) followed in positions 12, 21 and 38.
Hettich-Walz and Vogt make up places
In the first of four shooting sessions, the leading trio made one mistake each, allowing Braisaz-Bouchet’s teammate Julia Simon to move up to second place. Preuß remained in seventh place after a mistake, followed by the error-free Hettich-Walz. Vogt was also able to gain several positions and was now 15th. Grotian lost five places after a missed shot.
The second prone position did not cause any changes in the top positions. Preuß had to do another penalty lap, so Hettich-Walz, who made no mistakes again, was now the best-placed DSV ski hunter. Vogt also scored five goals.
Janina Hettich-Walz cleared 19 of the 20 targets.
Hettich-Walz sniffs the podium
Hettich-Walz also showed a perfect performance while standing and was able to move up to third place behind the leading French women. Preuss and Vogt also knocked down all five targets and followed in fifth and eleventh place. Grotian had to take a penalty loop for the third time and was in 40th place after the third shooting.
However, a mistake in the last shooting cost Hettich-Walz a place on the podium. The German ski hunters went into the final round in fourth (Preuß), fifth (Hettich) and sixth (Vogt).
Puff and Schneider only have the role of spectator
Sophia Schneider and Johanna Puff did not start in the pursuit. Schneider had to cancel her start in the sprint at short notice due to an infection, and Puff, a World Cup debutant, took her place. However, she narrowly missed qualifying for her pursuer in 61st place by just one position.