The biathlon season ends prematurely for Vanessa Voigt. The body of the Thuringian no longer participates. This also has consequences for the German women’s relay at the World Cup.
The German biathlon team travels to the World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, without medal hope. “After several medical checks, I will not run races this season,” wrote the 27-year-old Thuringian on Instagram: “At the moment I hardly find words and certainly it will take a while until I find them again, but first of all It is now still: Health! “
Infection about Christmas causes a break
Voigt had had to take a longer training and competition break for Christmas and New Year because of a severe respiratory infection. Finally, she was missing in the races in Antholz and had already had, among other things, at the Home World Cup in Oberhof and In Ruhpolding have to pause after they were still in December Second in the persecution of Hochfilzen and Third in Le Grand-Bornand had become.
“The 2024/25 season was a real fight from the start,” wrote Voigt: “One up and down, including not only the head, but in the end, especially my body suffered a lot.” Their concentration now applies to the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
German season is missing important support
Although serious complications could be excluded, the Olympic fourth in singles need time to recover, the German Ski Association said. Voigt would have been set in the German season in a fit state, which wants to win a medal at the season highlight. After two World Cup victories this winter, the quartet was actually one of the great gold candidates at the World Cup from February 12th to 23rd.
After the failure of Voigt, a place in the German World Cup team initially remains vacant. While the overall World Cup leader Franziska Preuss, Selina Grotian, Julia Tannheimer and Sophia Schneider were firmly nominated, a fifth ski hunter is only then named at the European Championship and chasing race on Wednesday.
There were no surprises in the men’s team. The DSV relies on Philipp Horn, Johannes Kühn, Philipp Nawrath, Danilo Riethmüller and Justus Strelow for the World Cup. A total of twelve titles will be awarded in Switzerland on nine competition days.
dpa
