Rees at the Olympics for the first time
Rees will be at the start in Zhangjiakou in the first Olympic race of his career, Lesser and Kühn are at the Beijing Games for the first time. Doll already ran the relay on Saturday.
Dolls: “Goal to fight at the front”
Doll also made the most offensive announcement for the race: “I’ve set myself the goal of making a maximum of two mistakes if it’s a bit windy. Then you have a chance of fighting at the front.”, said the 31-year-old, who won the last World Cup race before the Olympics two weeks ago.
Lesser: “The chances are good individually”
Lesser also looks at the competition in a combative manner: “I know that the chances of being successful individually are very good”, said the Thuringian. Considering the windy conditions and the challenging course, Lesser, who is a strong shooter, added:
“But I also know that it’s hard work on the track in the conditions. The wind is a bad shooter’s friend. I hope it won’t be unfair.”
Rees: “I feel comfortable on the tracks”
Rees says about the easing cold and expected temperatures in the slightly below zero range: “In individual terms, it should be a very reasonable day in terms of the temperatures. I feel very comfortable here on the routes.”, said the 28-year-old, who is hoping for a top 10 finish.
Kühn: No pressure
Kühn will only be at the start of the second race after his corona infection. He doesn’t want to put too much pressure on himself, he says. And with a view to the corona tests in China: “After the first tests here were negative, I can approach the whole thing relatively relaxed.”
Top favorites from Norway and France
The German starters are not among the top favorites for medals. The Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegreid and the Russian Anton Babikow, who was not nominated for the Olympics, have won the previous two singles this season.
The Norwegian brothers Tarjei and Johannes Thingnes Bö as well as the Frenchman Simon Desthieux also have the best chance of a top placing. In the mixed relay on Saturday, the hard-running Quentin Fillon Maillet from France and the Russian Alexander Loginow were also able to impress on the shooting range under difficult conditions.
Source: Dirk Hofmeister