Lisa Hauser has won a race in the Biathlon World Cup for the first time in almost three years. The Austrian then spoke of the difficult last few seasons. Meanwhile, overall World Cup winner Franziska Preuß was happy with the 2021 mass start world champion.
Starting from fourth position, Lisa Hauser won the biathlon pursuit in Östersund, Sweden, thanks to a flawless performance at the shooting range, ahead of Suvi Minkkinen (1 penalty/+2.5 seconds) from Finland and the Swede Anna Magnusson (1/+31.8). It was her first World Cup victory since December 2022.
“The last few years have been difficult for me. I had a victory in every individual race apart from the pursuit, that was a big goal in my career and today it happened,” the “ORF” quoted the 31-year-old as saying.
Hauser broke away from the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) in 2024. “I have decided that I will organize the last years of my career myself,” Hauser confirmed to the “Tiroler Tageszeitung” at the time.
The ski hunter celebrated her greatest success to date at the 2021 Biathlon World Championships when she was crowned world champion in the mass start in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
Biathlon star Franziska Preuß congratulates
“Congratulations, Lisa Hauser. Brutal,” said overall World Cup winner Franziska Preuß in her Instagram story for the Austrian. The German biathlete missed the sprint and the subsequent pursuit in Östersund due to illness.
The Biathlon World Cup stops in Hochfilzen from Friday to Sunday. Hauser will go into the home game with a lot of self-confidence. The 31-year-old is in a strong fourth place in the overall rankings after the first week of the season with 145 points. Only Minkkinen (191), Magnusson (174) and the Frenchwoman Camille Bened (148) are in an even better position.