Biathlete Franziska Preuß missed her next podium at the home World Cup in Oberhof. The French women shone in the pursuit on Saturday (January 6th, 2024). However, this time it wasn’t Justine Braisaz-Bouchet at the top.
Franziska Preuß was unable to improve on her second place in the Oberhof sprint. The 29-year-old from Upper Bavaria came seventh in the pursuit in Oberhof with two shooting errors. Until the last shooting, Preuß still had a chance of getting on the podium, but it collapsed on the last lap. In the end, she was 15.9 seconds short of the podium.
Preuß “back on track” with his head too early
“The final lap was very difficult. I didn’t have the best skis either“, said Preuß afterwards in the Sportschau interview. With seventh place, the former world champion put an end to her poor result of the season. The result was “okay, but I hoped for more with the starting position“said Preuß, who has already come second twice this winter.”The last miss was unnecessary. Then my head was back on track. Annoying.”
Overall, the German team was in good shape a month before the World Cup in Nove Mesto. Janina Hettich-Walz (2 errors/1:31 minutes) in eleventh and Sophia Schneider (1 error/1:42.1) in 14th also made it into the top 15. Vanessa Voigt (1/+2:36, 8) fell back to 18th place despite good shooting performance. Hanna Kebinger (2/+3:08.9) improved to 22nd position after a good race to catch up.
Simon prevents the next Braisaz-Bouchet victory
The French celebrated a double success. After four World Cup victories in a row, Julia Simon (2 errors) dethroned her compatriot Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (3/+18.9). Although celebrating is perhaps the wrong expression. Braisaz-Bouchet and Simon have been at loggerheads since this season, not speaking to each other and not training together. The background is the accusation of credit card fraud by Braisaz-Bouchet against her teammate, who won the overall World Cup last year. The Norwegian Ingrid Landmark-Tandrevold (2/+44.4) completed the podium.
Preuß with an early mistake
Preuß was only four seconds behind sprint winner Braisaz-Bouchet at the start. But like the day before, the Frenchwoman had extremely fast legs and quickly widened the gap. Her compatriot Sophie Chauveau also passed Preuß until the first shooting. There, both had to shoot an extra 150 meters with one missed shot each, while Braisaz-Bouchet extended her lead. Hettich-Walz, who started fifth, was able to push past her teammate with a faultless series. Voigt also gained a few places with five direct hits, but lost a lot of time on the track, as he did in the sprint.
Close race for the podium
On the second prone shot, the discs tumbled every second. Almost all athletes in the top 10 hit the finish line five times. This also applies to Hettich-Walz and Preuß, who were unable to make up any positions. The gap to the podium remained constant at around 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Braisaz-Bouchet continued to run a lonely race at the front. In the third shooting, her lead was already 30 seconds, which she was able to confidently maintain despite a penalty loop. Preuß was able to work his way up to fifth place with a faultless series, while Hettich-Walz scored a ticket. Voigt and Schneider stayed in the top 15.
Simon pulls Braisaz-Bouchet’s tooth
In the final standing position, Braisaz-Bouchet made things exciting and scored two penalties. Simon only managed one and moved past her rival to her first World Cup victory this winter. Behind them, the pursuers opened the door wide open for Preuß and the podium with several missed shots. But the last shot was not fired. Nevertheless, Preuß returned to the track in third place. But there wasn’t much going on there anymore. Little by little she had to let the competition pass and fell out of the top 5.