Selina Grotian is 20 years young, Franziska Preuß is ten years older, Danilo Riethmüller is right in the middle. It is precisely this mixture that is currently the secret of the German biathlon team’s success.
One exclamation mark followed the next over the weekend. Franziska Preuß came second in the sprint in Annecy on Friday (December 20, 2024), then won the pursuit on Saturday, Vanessa Voigt came third in this race. At the crowning conclusion, Selina Grotian and Preuß rocked the mass start with a double success. A German top three would have been conceivable that day, but Voigt had to cancel the race due to illness.
Riethmüller even stays ahead of Johannes Thingnes Bö
Danilo Riethmüller also did magic. In the mass start, he climbed the first World Cup podium of his career in second place in Annecy and sensationally left the great dominator Johannes Thingnes Bö from Norway behind – only his brother Tarjei was faster.
“The climate in the team is perfect, young and old complement each other perfectly,” said discipline coach Kristian Mehringer in the Sportschau interview and summed up the current secret of success.
With a total of six podium places, Preuß in the yellow jersey and Grotian in the red jersey of the mass start leaders, the German team is heading into the longed-for Christmas break very satisfied. Preuß, who has often suffered in the past, is having the best start to the season of her career and has further extended her lead in the overall World Cup. She was on the podium six times and was never worse than fifth.
Now recharge your batteries
Now she wants to recharge her batteries and recover at Christmas with her partner Simon Schempp and her family in order to get back to full 100 percent performance: “Now I’m looking forward to the break.” She and Voigt will continue again on December 28th at Schalke in the team challenge together with Philipp Nawrath and Justus Strelow.
Lost my skis on a descent
In the French Alps, she showed that Grotian, like 19-year-old Julia Tannheimer, who had to miss two races in France due to illness, is the promise for the future. In the pursuit the day before, she was very unlucky when she lost her right ski on a descent in the first laps and ended up finishing 14th.
“I’m a very quiet guy, I work a lot with myself,” explained the multiple junior world champion, who is now looking forward to her family and her dog Nala. Previously, the season had not gone as hoped for the ambitious Grotian, and there were also worse results, which are to be expected at this age.
Riethmüller redeems German men’s team
Like Grotian, late starter Riethmüller also experienced his podium debut. “I’m now looking forward to my wife and my dachshund”said the 25-year-old, who himself didn’t know exactly how he kept Johannes Thingnes Bö from Norway behind him during his coup and finished just four seconds behind his victorious brother.
Riethmüller had already set an example in the pursuit race by jumping from 29th place to seventh. After fulfilling his life’s dream, he sent a thank you to national coach Uros Velepec and his home coach Alexander Wolf. “You gave me the trust, accompanied me through the valley of mistakes and gave me the chance”said Riethmüller, who missed the relay podium in Hochfilzen with a penalty loop.
Performance at the shooting range is not yet consistent
Before Riethmüller’s coup, men were in the shadow of women. In the first season after the retirement of Benedikt Doll, the last representative of the Golden Generation around Arnd Peiffer, Erik Lesser and Schempp, the performances are solid, but things are not going consistently well, especially at the shooting range. Riethmüller’s success could be an initial spark.