2:34 p.m
Lou Jeanmonnot wins!
The young Frenchwoman was very strong tactically and saved important points in the slipstream. At exactly the right moment she starts sprinting to the finish line. Preuß gives her all again, but in the end she is 0.3 seconds short of her first win of the season. This means that Lou Jeanmonnot is crowned not only the sprint queen, but also the pursuit queen of Östersund.
2:32 p.m
Who will win?
Now let’s look forward again. Both turn the last corner together and the decision is actually made in the last few meters. Who will win? Will it be Franziska Preuß or the sprint winner Lou Jeanmonnot?
2:31 p.m
Voigt wants to be on the podium
A similar picture emerges in the fight for third place. Things get heated there between Vanessa Voigt and Juni Arnekleiv, but here too it is Voigt who tries to break away. She manages this a little better than Preuß before, because she can create a visibly clear distance. This means that 3rd place for Vanessa Voigt is almost certain.
2:30 p.m
Preuss passes by
Franziska Preuß doesn’t hesitate for long, immediately closes the gap and overtakes Lou Jeanmonnot. On the climb after kilometer 8.8 she picks up again so that there is a small gap between her and Jeanmonnot. But she can’t really settle down yet. It remains exciting.
14:28
Lou Jeanmonnot back in front
Both leaders start with a mistake, which should stay the same. Is one of the pursuers taking advantage of this little phase of weakness? But yes! Suddenly Lou Jeanmonnot is at the front again, looking back on a 100% performance at the shooting range. Her lead over Franziska Preuß is now 6.8 seconds, as the German also made no mistakes in the last standing stage. Basically, Preuss is considered to be a stronger runner than the French.
14:26
Showdown at the shooting range
There’s a showdown at the shooting range. Can an athlete break away or will it come down to a sprint to the finish? We’ll know more soon!
2:25 p.m
Jeanmonnot can’t keep up with the pace
Lou Jeanmonnot can’t quite keep up with the pace at the front, so Vanessa Voigt and Juni Arnekleiv are pulling away a little. At kilometer 7.6, the leading duo increased their lead over the Frenchwoman to eight seconds.
14:24
Preuss not yet defeated
Franziska Preuß returns in fourth place on the penultimate lap. Your gap to the leading group is 22 seconds. Lena Häcki-Groß stays in the top ten, but can’t quite keep up with the top athletes when it comes to running. Despite sinking 15 shots, she is 46 seconds behind the leader.
2:19 p.m
Voigt stays tuned
For the first time it’s time for the standing stop. Franziska Preuß is the first of the quintet to leave a disc. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold follows her into the penalty loop. The other three don’t show any weakness at the shooting range. Juni Arnekleiv is the new leader, but drags Lou Jeanmonnot and Vanessa Voigt with her.
2:18 p.m
Germans again with strong material
On the track you can once again see what good work the German technicians have done. On the descents, Vannesa Voigt can easily put a small gap between herself and her competitors. The fluorine-free skis seem to have been well received in the German camp, at least when it is as cold as in Sweden. Of course, this picture can change again at different temperatures.
2:17 p.m
Öberg sisters in pursuit
Elvira Öberg is 28 seconds back, right in front of her sister. Lisa Vittozzi and Lena Häcki-Groß follow very closely behind. Janina Hettich-Walz also knocked down all five targets in the second shooting and is currently 12th. Lisa Theresa Hauser still has one shooting error and is ranked 22nd, one place ahead of Elisa Gasparin, who is still without any errors on the shooting range.
2:14 p.m
Great shooting results
It’s a tough shoot from everyone. Only Elvira Öberg leaves a target so she has to turn into the penalty loop. But she is a strong runner and can basically compensate for this in one lap. Everyone else moves on to the next round. Preuß does the leadership work.
14:13
Second shooting
For the second shooting, Franziska Preuß pushed past Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and lay down on the first mat. Another shot is taken while lying down. Does the group stay that close?
14:12
Leadership group
For the first time a Norwegian is in the lead. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold passes Jeanmonnot and sets the pace. There is now a group of six at the front, with Elvira Öberg able to catch up. The group has a fairly comfortable lead over Lisa Vittozzi, who is seventh, 33.2 seconds behind.
2:10 p.m
What does the rest do?
What about the other German-speaking athletes? Janina Hettich-Walz keeps the clean slate and fights her way from 19th to tenth place. Lena Häcki-Groß also put down all the targets and reduced her gap to less than 35 seconds. Lisa Theresa Hauser is and remains the best Austrian, even if she has to accept a penalty lap.
2:08 p.m
The new order
Nobody can fool Lou Jeanmonnot by lying down. She hits all the targets so she will keep the lead. However, their lead has narrowed significantly. Franziska Preuß shoots quickly and flawlessly and returns to the second round four seconds behind the Frenchwoman. She has Arnekleiv, Tandrevold and Voigt in tow, all of whom remained flawless. Karoline Offigstad Knotten, on the other hand, leaves two targets behind and loses touch.
2:06 p.m
The first shooting
Slowly but surely the first athletes turn towards the shooting range for the first time. Lou Jeanmonnot can shoot from the front. But she can already feel her five pursuers breathing down her neck. Who gets through without errors?
2:04 p.m
Jeanmonnot stays ahead
With an air temperature of -12 degrees it is still very cold in Sweden, but compared to the other days you can almost say it was a mild day. Lou Jeanmonnot increases her lead by almost four seconds after 800 meters. Behind them, the two Germans and the three Norwegians have joined forces with Arnekleiv, Offigstatt Knotten and Tandrevold to form a chasing group.
2:01 p.m
Only 49 biathletes
A total of 60 athletes qualified for the pursuit from the sprint. A total of eleven had to withdraw from the race, so that today only 48 runners are pursuing the leading Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot.
2:00 p.m
Pursuit has started!
The starting signal has been fired and off we go. Lou Jeanmonnot sprints out of the starting block and can now really accelerate for nine seconds before Karoline Offigstad Knotten, the first pursuer, is allowed onto the track. Another nine seconds later, Juni Arnekleiv and Franziska Preuß start at the same time. This means that both yellow jerseys can be found on the track early on.
1:55 p.m
Two athletes in yellow
There is another special feature of this race. Not only Franziska Preuß has a taste for wearing the yellow jersey, but also the Norwegian Karoline Offigstad Knotten. Both can be found on points in the ranking, and both achieved a 2nd and a 4th place. Therefore, both women can take to the track in yellow today.
1:50 p.m
Austrian quartet
The picture is similar for the Austrian athletes. Lisa Theresa Hauser is best placed in 22nd place, 1:06 minutes behind. 33 seconds later, her teammate Tamara Steiner starts the race. Further back in the field, Anna Gandler (45th) and Katarina Oberthaler (50th) want to pursue the pursuit and, if possible, reach the finish with an improvement.
1:45 p.m
Only three Swiss women at the start
The Swiss women cannot start with their full complement either. Although both Amy Baserga and Lea Meier qualified for the competition, they had to forego competing. Lena Häcki-Groß wants to storm forward from 15th place. With a gap of 50 seconds, anything is still possible, especially towards another top ten result. They are joined by sister Elisa and Aita Gasparin, who are close together with start numbers 27 and 34.
1:40 p.m
Preuß in yellow – Kebinger out due to illness
Hanna Kebinger has to miss the start of the German women’s race due to illness. “With the prevailing low temperatures, we want to avoid any worsening of the symptoms so as not to endanger next week’s competitions in Hochfilzen,” said team doctor Jan Wüstenfeld. Nevertheless, there are high hopes for the German starters. First and foremost, the returnee Franziska Preuß will be at the start in fourth place and in the yellow jersey. At the same time as the Norwegian Arnekleiv, she starts chasing the Frenchwoman Jeanmonnot after 18 seconds. Vanessa Voigt follows just two seconds later. Janina Hettich-Walz takes to the track in 19th place and wants to minimize her gap of 57 seconds. The young Selina Grotian follows in 21st place. The German pursuit squad is perfected by Sophia Schneider, who, in 41st place, has to wait almost two minutes before she can start the competition.
1:25 p.m
Welcome
Good day and welcome to the biathlon final in Östersund, Sweden. The pursuit races for women and men are still scheduled today. First up are the women, who have to complete another 10 kilometers and four shooting events. The start is scheduled for 2 p.m.!