After her individual debut, World Cup newcomer Selina Grotian is also celebrating her World Cup premiere in the relay. Among the men, Benedikt Doll leads the quartet.
The 19-year-old biathlon hopeful Grotian was named alongside silver medalist Janina Hettich-Walz, Franziska Preuß and Vanessa Voigt in the squad for the race on Saturday (February 17, 2024, 1:45 p.m./live ticker at sportschau.de), as the German Ski Association said announced on Friday. The men are called upon at 4:30 p.m.
Fourth place in the first World Championship race
When Hettich-Walz won silver in Nove Mesto on Tuesday, Grotian finished fourth in the first World Championship race of her career. The five-time junior world champion pushed Sophia Schneider out of the relay with this courageous performance. Grotian, who traveled to the Czech Republic without meeting the World Cup standard, is also qualified for the mass start on Sunday.
The German team doesn’t want to let itself be dragged down by missing out on a World Cup medal in the mixed singles with Voigt and Justus Strelow (6th). “That doesn’t mean anything for the weekend. We have plans and of course we want to be on the podium,” said sports director Felix Bitterling: “All-in for the weekend. There’s absolutely no reason to mope.”
Men always on the relay podium
Among the men, Doll also includes Justus Strelow, Johannes Kühn and Philipp Nawrath in the promising quartet. The men were always on the podium in the World Cup this winter, in addition to two second places there were also two third places – exactly the same result as before the home World Cup last year. At that time it was only enough for fifth place at the climax.
The victory is only over Norway for Johannes Thingnes Bö. Watching from the German team are Roman Rees and Philipp Horn, who both missed the jump into the mass start on Sunday.
Perfect skis are necessary
In order to reach the podium or even compete for victory, women and men need the perfect ski. So far, the German technicians had not been able to find anything at the peak of the season in their search for the “unicorn”, as former world champion Erik Lesser called it. After things went better in slightly lower temperatures in the individual, where Benedikt Doll won bronze, Voigt again struggled with the material after the single mixed, as in the first medalless week. “We need to talk a little more”said Voigt.
Although she and Strelow only needed four spares, they were 1:04.6 minutes behind winner France. They were the second fastest at the shooting range and only tenth in the running time. In the first year after the ban on fluorine wax, the World Cup has become a material battle with extremely high temperatures, in which the Germans are currently losing out.
| Date | Decision | winner |
|---|---|---|
Wed., February 7th | Mixed relay (4×6 km) | France |
Fri, February 9th | Women’s sprint (7.5 km) | Julia Simon |
Sat., February 10 (5:05 p.m.) | Men’s sprint (10 km) | Sturla Holm Laegreid |
Sun., February 11th (2:30 p.m.) | Women’s Pursuit (10 km) | Julia Simon |
Sun., February 11th (5:05 p.m.) | Men’s Pursuit (12.5 km) | Johannes Thingnes Bö |
Tue., February 13th (5:10 p.m.) | Women’s Individual (15 km) | Lisa Vittozzi |
Wed., February 14th (5:20 p.m.) | Men’s Individual (20 km) | Johannes Thingnes Bö |
Thursday, February 15th (6:00 p.m.) | Single-Mixed (4×3 km + 1.5 km) | Lou Jeanmonnot / Quentin Fillon Maillet |
Sat., February 17 (1:45 p.m.) | Women’s relay (4×6 km) | |
Sat., February 17 (4:30 p.m.) | Men’s relay (4×7.5 km) | |
Sun., February 18th (2:15 p.m.) | Women’s mass start (12.5 km) | |
Sun., February 18th (4:30 p.m.) | Men’s mass start (15 km) |