11:35
Doll hits
Now Benedikt Doll comes to prone shooting. As the fans cheer, the German hope shows no weakness, withstands the pressure and wins. That gives him the lead – with a cushion of 16 seconds.
11:34
1. Shooting J. Bø
11:32
Penalty lap for Bø
Sebastian Stalder then shot calmly and without mistakes. But then Johannes Thingnes Bø is there together with Simon Eder. While the Norwegian allowed himself to miss a shot, the Austrian worked perfectly with the weapon in his hand. In terms of timing, Bø is four seconds ahead of Eder and almost seven ahead of Stalder.
11:31
1. Shooting Ponsiluoma
11:31
Ponsiluoma in the lead
Martin Ponsiluoma quickly fires his first shot, which promptly misses. The Swede doesn’t allow himself any further mistakes and sets the fastest time despite the penalty – 15 seconds ahead.
11:29
1. Shooting Bionaz
11:29
First shooting
Now the first ski hunter arrives at the shooting range. Florent Claude goes prone and leaves a target. Shortly afterwards, the Pole Konrad Badacz was the first clean shooter to please. That’s still not enough for the interim best time by a good two seconds.
11:28
Start doll
11:27
First intermediate times
Meanwhile, the first intermediate times are coming in. Martin Ponsiluoma is doing well, but after just 600 meters Johannes Thingnes Bø is the fastest, four seconds ahead. The Romanian George Colțea also got off to a good start, finishing second there.
11:26
Start J. Bø
11:25
Bo on the way
Then we look at the great master. Johannes Thingnes Bø is likely to be the benchmark again today. Or? A little later it is Felix Leitner and Benedikt Doll’s turn.
11:24
Start Ponsiluoma
11:23
More starters
Martin Ponsiluoma is already on the way. Now follows the Swiss Sebastian Stalder and immediately after the Austrian Simon Eder. The athletes forcefully push themselves onto the track in quick succession.
11:21
retreat
There has already been a withdrawal reported. Lithuanian Tomas Kaukėnas will not take part in the competition. This leaves us with 99 ski hunters who will now gradually set out on the course in the arena on Rennsteig.
11:20
Start Claude
11:20
begin
At this moment the Belgian Florent Claude opens the men’s sprint in Oberhof. With starting intervals of 30 seconds, it will take around 50 minutes until all athletes are sent on their way.
11:20
Erik Lesser on the Oberhof route
11:18
Favorites
If we look at the overall World Cup, there are five Norwegians ahead. Led by Johannes Thingnes Bø (start number 11), we practically all have to take this into account. In addition to the Germans mentioned, we also think of the Swedes Martin Ponsiluoma (7) and Sebastian Samuelsson (30). In contrast, the French are not a factor at all this season, apart from relay races.
11:15
The cook of the biathlon team
11:15
Five Confederates
Currently the best Swiss is Sebastian Stalder (start number 9), who achieved a top 15 result in the sprint in Östersund. Niklas Hartweg (17) achieved this in Lenzerheide. We also have the Swiss Joscha Burkhalter (37), Jeremy Finello (78) and Sandro Bovisi (98). The latter is making his World Cup debut.
11:11
Austrian quintet
The first Austrian will be 40-year-old Simon Eder (start number 10). The only current top 30 in the overall World Cup is Felix Leitner (13), in 28th place. So the ÖSV doesn’t have any great ambitions at the moment. We are also expecting David Komatz (42), Magnus Oberhauser (63) and Dominic Unterweger (94).
11:01
German sextet
100 ski hunters want to take part in the competition. Six of them in particular rely on the support of the home fans. The start is Benedikt Doll (start number 14), the sprint winner from Lenzerheide. In Switzerland, Philipp Horn (27) got a taste of the podium in fourth place and has already won a sprint in the IBU Cup this season. The best-placed German in the overall World Cup is Philipp Nawrath (32), the sprint winner in Östersund. Justus Strelow (38) and Johannes Kühn (53) are very close to the top 10 of the overall World Cup. The DSV squad is completed by Roman Rees (51).
10:51
Daily task
The route is prepared for the men. The different processes (start, shooting range, finish) result in precisely measured lap lengths of 3,368, 3,414 and 3,251 meters. The competition distance therefore totals exactly 10,033 meters, but could of course be lengthened by penalty laps. Athletes incur this when they miss targets when shooting prone or standing.
10:41
Conditions
In general, the conditions at the Oberhofer Grenzadler are worrying the organizers. The warm temperatures of the past few weeks have caused the snow to melt. The Norwegians who arrived early complained about what they saw as catastrophic conditions with numerous stones on the route. The IBU promised improvement yesterday and wanted to go to the last snow reserves in order to work on the worst areas of damage again. In addition, temperatures are expected to decrease in the coming days.
10:31
Oberhof
At the beginning of the new calendar year, the World Cup entourage of ski hunters is paying a visit to the German biathlon strongholds. Before it’s Ruhpolding’s turn next week, things are going to be happening in Thuringia this weekend. The men’s sprint in Oberhof was supposed to take place yesterday, but was postponed to 11:20 a.m. today due to unfavorable weather forecasts.
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to the men’s 10km sprint from Oberhof! The live ticker begins in time before the start of the ski hunter race.