Norway also won the second men’s relay race of the young biathlon season. Germany already seemed defeated, but still made it onto the podium.
In the driving snow of Hochfilzen, the quartet from Norway prevailed after 4 x 7.5 kilometers ahead of Sweden (+ 20.0 seconds/0 penalties) and Germany (+ 28.6 seconds/1). In a race that was varied from a German point of view, Justus Strelow, Johannes Kühn, Roman Rees and Benedikt Doll were happy about the second podium in the second race of the winter. A week ago, the same line-up took second place in Kontiolahti.
Doll’s “awesome ski” secures third place
After Strelow had to deal with problems on the trail and Kühn had to complete a penalty loop, Rees and Doll showed a fighting spirit and pushed their team up to third place. “That was a very happy ending. The technicians did a great job again, my skis were really great. That was also the reason why I was able to secure the place on the final lap“, explained the visibly relaxed final runner Doll in the ZDF interview.
In the pre-season, Doll had expressed personal doubts about his abilities as the last runner in the relay, actually no longer wanted to run in this position because he had identified weaknesses in the sprints. “Today the speed on the final lap was important overall and I feel really good about it. I have confidence in this position“, continues Doll.
Strelow with quick shots and slow legs
Strelow was unlucky on the first few meters and had to change his stick, which didn’t mean he lost time, but strength. In the first shooting, Norway was the first team to go out after five goals. Strelow had to reload once, but was able to keep the gap quite small at just under nine seconds.
By the second standing stage, leader Sturla Holm Laegreid was able to pull away, followed by Sweden just under 15 seconds behind. Strelow had to lose something on the track, but was able to catch up with five quick hits because Laegreid needed three spares. However, the German ran out of strength on the last loop on the dull snow.
Kühn has to go into the penalty loop
Kühn took over the scepter in ninth place, 25 seconds behind the leading Norwegians. He was able to put down all five targets in prone and was able to gain a few seconds on the top duo consisting of Norway and Austria. This gap was further reduced up to the standing stage, also because the top speed was not set at the very front.
Even three spare rounds were not enough for Kühn when shooting, one disc missed and Germany went into the penalty loop. Italy now took the lead ahead of Norway, with France just ten seconds behind. Kühn followed in tenth with a deficit of almost 50 seconds.
Rees makes up places – squall flies away from everyone
Rees finally started his 7.5 kilometers with only a slightly reduced gap. While Johannes Thingnes Bö, right at the front, ran his own race both on the track and on the shooting range, Rees was able to reduce the gap to the podium somewhat thanks to five hits in prone. With the second clean series, he moved up to fourth place but was still half a minute behind the third-placed Swedes. At the very front, Bö had gained a cushion of 37 seconds.
Doll overtakes the French
By the last change, Rees was able to make up another eleven seconds on France and Sweden, Norway had meanwhile escaped by more than a minute. Their final runner Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen didn’t burn anything in front. Doll, on the other hand, was able to pass Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet in prone who used two spares, while Doll scored five.
However, the gaps remained narrow, so the decision was made at the last shooting. Despite a penalty loop, Norway went lonely on the final loop. In a three-way battle for the two remaining places on the podium, Sweden and Germany made one mistake each, France two. With that, the places were taken, nothing more happened at the front on the last lap.