16:02
Second change
16:01
The Swiss are now sixth, almost a minute and a half behind. Aita Gasparin is now required. France follows in eighth place – now with Justine Braisaz-Bouchet. Lisa Theresa Hauser hands over to Tamara Steiner for Austria in tenth place.
3:59 p.m
Second change
Now it’s changing again. Norway is now clearly ahead. Juni Arnekleiv sends Karoline Offigstad Knotten on her journey. Only 37 seconds later does the Czech arrive. Markéta Davidová takes over here. The Swede is in third place, Linn Persson has countered. It’s now Elvira Öberg’s turn. But it’s the Germans’ turn, for whom Vanessa Voigt is now running.
15:57
Grotian strong
Selina Grotian delivers a brilliant relay debut in the World Cup. One reloader at a time – that’s absolutely fine. The 19-year-old is doing very well in terms of running, is now behind Linn Persson and is catching up with Dorothea Wierer.
15:57
4. Shoot pursuers
15:54
Penalty lap for France
Chloé Chevalier can’t cope at all. Ultimately one disc remains standing and the Frenchwoman has to go into the penalty loop. Linn Persson and Selina Grotian pass with one spare each. Amy Baserga also gets past France despite the two spares. Lisa Theresa Hauser didn’t miss a single shot and brought Austria up to ninth place.
15:53
4. Shooting leadership group
15:53
Fourth shooting
There is already movement at the shooting range again. Juni Arnekleiv arrives with a slight lead and cleans up completely. This puts Norway clearly in the lead – especially because the competition is struggling. The Czech has to reload twice and is shortly afterwards 21 seconds behind. The flawless Dorothea Wieder moves to third place.
15:51
On the route
France, the Czech Republic and Norway are now at the top. Dorothea Wierer loses some ground in fourth place and is immediately joined by Linn Persson.
3:50 p.m
Third shooting pursuit group
3:50 p.m
Third shooting lead group
3:48 p.m
Mąka and Hauser impeccable
Poland is still traveling without any reloaders. Anna Mąka builds on the performance of the starting runner. This means that this season is currently in eighth position. Lisa Theresa Hauser didn’t show any weakness in the prone position, but Austria is still only sixteenth.
3:46 p.m
Third shooting
Now we are at the shooting range again. Nobody gets through cleanly. France, the Czech Republic, Norway and Italy each have to reload once and do it confidently. Linn Persson shoots perfectly. Selina Grotian has to grab an extra cartridge, but keeps her nerve. The target turns white – like Amy Baserga, who takes an extra shot.
15:43
Grotian is looking for orientation
On her first lap as a World Cup relay runner, Selina Grotian follows Linn Persson and clings to the ends of the Swede’s board.
3:40 p.m
Germany in fifth place
Janina Hettich-Walz hands over to Selina Grotian in fifth place. 15 seconds are missing from the top. A further eight seconds behind are the Swiss, for whom Amy Baserga is now working – practically at the same time as the Swede Linn Persson. Austria is only in 16th place, so Lisa Theresa Hause has a lot of catching up to do.
3:39 p.m
First change
3:39 p.m
First change
Lou Jeanmonnot actually ran to the front and is now the first to hand over to Chloé Chevalier for France. And the Czech Tereza Voborníková also put in a strong final lap. Jessica Jislová takes over. It’s Norway’s turn with Juni Arnekleiv and Italy with Dorothea Wierer.
3:38 p.m
The wheat is separated from the chaff
Marthe Kråkstad Johansen and Rebecca Passler are a little ahead of the competition. Lou Jeanmonnot is in the first chasing group. Janina Hettich-Walz can’t quite follow this.
3:36 p.m
Second shooting standing
3:36 p.m
Reloader
Elisa Gasparin needs spares for the first time – two in number. Kristina Oberthalter has to step up her game again. Then the discs fall. Anna Magnusson barely avoids the penalty loop with three additional shots.
3:34 p.m
Second shooting
After the prone position, you now shoot standing up. So increased challenges! The sextet starts almost at the same time. Norway and Italy win quickly. Janina Hettich-Walz has to reload like the Frenchwoman. This is done quickly. Tereza Voborníková for the Czech Republic also uses an extra cartridge. The Polish Natalia Sidorowicz comes through quite cleanly.
3:30 p.m
Second round
On the second lap a leading group of six emerged. Norway, Sweden, France, the Czech Republic, Italy and Germany are doing excellently. A gap of five seconds opened up in front of the Swiss. The Austrian team also runs in their group.
15:28
First shooting lying down
15:27
One penalty lap
Kristian Oberthaler has to add an additional cartridge and goes back on the track a little later with a deficit of 14 seconds. Only Sanita Buliņa cannot manage with three spares. The Latvian has to circle once.
15:26
First shooting
And then the pack runs to the shooting range for the first time. Fire free! Anna Magnusson is the first to pull the trigger and also knocks down all the targets. Janina Hettich-Walz does that too. The Norwegian, the French and the Italian all don’t show any weakness. A total of 13 starting runners made it through without a spare – this includes Switzerland.
15:23
First timing
A time is taken for the first time after 800 meters. Here the Frenchwoman is ahead according to her starting number. Anna Magnusson follows. The distances are still extremely small. Only the Canadian woman mentioned above has already lost touch.
15:21
Start of the season
15:21
Several stumblers
The race doesn’t start well for Switzerland. Elisa Gasparin falls and finds herself at the end of the field. Canadian Nadia Moser also falls to her knees shortly afterwards. And Janina Hettich-Walz stumbles on the first climb. The incidents are not really decisive.
3:20 p.m
begin
At this moment the starting signal sounds. The 18 squadrons set off from the three corridors at the same time. Among those taking part in the round are Lou Jeanmonnot (FRA), Marthe Kråkstad Johansen (NOR), Anna Magnusson (SWE), Janina Hettich-Walz (GER) and Rebecca Passler (ITA).
15:14
Conditions
The winter wonderland of Östersund is five degrees below zero. When there is light snowfall, there is no lack of white splendor. Accordingly, the route is well prepared. The wind shouldn’t have much of an influence.
3:06 p.m
Swiss and Austria
The Swiss have also found a place in the second row of the grid and are considered the first pursuers of the big five. The starting runner is Elisa Gasparin. Her sister Aita will succeed Amy Baserga. Lena Häcki-Groß should then bring the whole thing to the finish line. Kristina Oberthaler, who has just made her World Cup debut in the individual, Lisa Theresa Hauser, Tamara Steiner and Anna Gandler are running for Austria.
14:56
DSV
Sophia Schneider was actually supposed to run on the German side today, but she complained of a sore throat in the morning and was replaced by Selina Grotian to be on the safe side. The multiple junior world champion (including in the relay) is making her World Cup debut in a team competition and is second to Janina Hettich-Walz. This is followed by Vanessa Voigt and Franziska Preuß.
2:46 p.m
favorites
18 relay teams want to take part in the competition. The favorites are in the front row, as if there were the French women who won the relay World Cup last season. They will be joined by the Norwegians, who triumphed here in Östersund in March, and Olympic champions Sweden. Vice world champion and Olympic third place Germany follows in the second row. Right next to it is world champion Italy. For the remaining teams it is important to be there when the big nations, who fought for all the podium places last winter, slip up.
2:36 p.m
Squadron
The winter athletes have been in the Swedish biathlon stronghold since the middle of the last few weeks and will continue to do so until the weekend. There have already been team competitions with the mixed relays. Today and tomorrow both sexes work separately. There are four athletes per team, each of whom has to complete a six-kilometer route. The running work is broken up by two shooting sequences each – lying down and standing. In case of missed shots, you can reload three times. Only then are penalty laps imposed.
14:26
Welcome
Welcome to the Biathlon World Cup! The ski hunters are still in Östersund. Today the classic women’s relay is on the program. The start is scheduled to take place at 3:20 p.m.