The two champions of the specialty make their debut in the season leading to the Milan Cortina Olympics
The biathlon season leading up to the Milan Cortina Olympics will kick off this Saturday (November 29) in Östersund, Sweden, with a first World Cup stage spread over two weeks. The first weekend will be dedicated to relays, both gender and mixed: on Saturday the women’s relay at 1.15pm and the men’s at 4.55pm; on Sunday the single mixed relay at 2.00 pm and the mixed relay at 3.40 pm. The first races which will award points for the general classification will take place from Tuesday 2nd to Sunday 7th December: individual, sprint and pursuit. On the shores of Lake Storsjön, where a creature similar to the most famous Loch Ness monster is said to live, Italy will find itself at the start Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi together for the first time in 21 months. You have to go back to the mass start of the World Championships in Nove Mesto on 18 February 2024 to find them both at the start of the same official race.
ambitions
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With its two queens present and in good condition, as shown in recent weeks, the prospects of the Italian team are growing, not only in the women’s team but also in the mixed relay, which achieved its latest World Cup victory in the Swedish town (30 November 2019: alongside Wierer and Vittozzi were Hofer and Windisch). Östersund is a venue particularly dear to Wierer, who achieved five successes here – like in Anterselva – including his first world title. Completing the women’s quintet are Michela Carrara, who can achieve great satisfaction with greater shooting continuity, as well as Samuela Comola and Hannah Auchentaller, world relay champions at Oberhof 2023 together with Wierer and Vittozzi.
masculine dream
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There is also great anticipation for Tommaso Giacomel who, after rising to the top of world biathlon at the end of last season, now aims to fight for the overall ranking. The twenty-five year old from Trentino is now a certainty: he has full awareness of his abilities and the typical determination of champions. At his side will be the always reliable Lukas Hofer, who at 36 years old retains enormous motivation, the talented Didier Bionaz, determined to redeem himself, as well as Patrick Braunhofer, Elia Zeni and Daniele Cappellari.
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