Denise Herrmann-Wick finished the 2023 Biathlon World Championships in Oberhof without her fourth medal in the mass start. The exhausted-looking Saxon finished 24th on Sunday after five shooting errors.
In the end, Herrmann-Wick was 2:54.2 minutes behind the new world champion Hanna Öberg from Sweden (2 penalties).
Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (1) secured silver ahead of French Julia Simon (3). Best German was World Cup debutant Hanna Kebinger (2) in twelfth place.
The 34-year-old Olympic champion Herrmann-Wick had previously won gold in the sprint, silver in the pursuit and silver in the relay at home.
With a total of three precious metals, the German Ski Association also ended the season’s highlight in Thuringia, where the men had not won a medal in World Championship races for the first time since 1976.
So far, the last German world champion in the mass start was Laura Dahlmeier in 2017.
Biathlon World Cup 2023: Weak shooting performance of the DSV women in the mass start
A medal was now unattainable for the ski hunters at the end of the World Cup after poor shooting performance. The Bavarian Kebinger missed the podium by more than 40 seconds.
Vanessa Voigt (3) finished the competition in her place of residence as 23rd, Sophia Schneider (5) had to settle for 27th of 30 starters.
One day after relay silver, Herrmann-Wick had to go to the penalty loop right after the first shooting in front of 23,500 spectators in the sold-out Rennsteig Arena and dropped back to 24th place.
The former cross-country skier looked exhausted and could not keep up on the track as usual and lost time. Miss number two in the second standing stage threw her further back, three mistakes in the first standing stage made a reasonable placement impossible.
Even a perfect last shooting didn’t change anything.