Franziska Preuß was unable to match her performance from the last few weeks in the sprint in Oberhof. The overall World Cup leader became 28th when Frenchwoman Paula Botet won.
It wasn’t Franziska Preuß’ afternoon. In the rain and fog in Oberhof, the overall World Cup leader had to go into the penalty loop three times and clearly missed the podium. In the end she missed the best 20 in 28th place (3 errors / +2:00.2 minutes).
Braisaz-Bouchet’s nerves fail
A small consolation for Preuß was that her competitors couldn’t really convince either. Justine Braisaz-Bouchet lost her nerve while standing and missed three times. In total, only five athletes made no mistakes, which was also due to the difficult conditions in Oberhof.
The victory surprisingly went to Paula Botet from France (0 errors / 22:52.8 minutes) ahead of Maren Kirkeeide from Norway (+31.1 seconds) and the Bulgarian Milena Todorova (+35 seconds). Kirkeeide and Todorova still made it onto the podium despite a penalty.
Grotian makes a mistake in the last shooting
Selina Grotian, who had experienced a shooting debacle in Oberhof a year earlier and was subsequently removed from the World Cup squad, remained clean in the prone position. She also impressed on the Lopie, but made a mistake in the second shooting. This meant she fell back and missed the podium in tenth place (1 mistake / +59 seconds).
Tannheim’s best Germans
Julia Tannheimer missed the first shot, but it was her only miss, which is why she ended up in ninth place thanks to her good running performance. The 19-year-old was the best German. Julia Kink finished behind with two errors and placed 35th (2 errors / +2:19.0 minutes).
Tandrevold celebrates comeback after heart surgery
Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold returned to the start just three weeks after a heart operation. The 28-year-old started the 7.5 km sprint with start number 23 and finished 15th.
Preuß keeps the yellow jersey
Despite this used tag, Franziska Preuß retains the yellow jersey of the overall World Cup leader. The athlete from SC Haag started the sprint with a big lead.
The pursuit, the single mixed relay and the mixed relay are still on the program in Oberhof.