Biathlon individual in Kontiolahti
DSV athlete surprised – two sisters at the front
March 5, 2026 – 6:41 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
When returning to the World Cup, Marlene Fichtner surprised with a faultless race. Meanwhile, two sisters end up at the front.
Marlene Fichtner narrowly missed the podium in the first race after the Franziska Preuß era, but caused a big surprise. The 22-year-old took a strong fifth place in the individual during Elvira Öberg’s victory at the World Cup in Kontiolahti and, with her best World Cup result, provided a ray of hope after the numerous German disappointments at the Olympics. Fichtner, who did not take part in the Winter Olympics, remained flawless in the four shooting stages of the 15 km race in freezing temperatures of minus five degrees.
Janina Hettich-Walz (2/+2:22.8 minutes) missed a podium place with two errors in the last stop and finished ninth. “It’s been haunting me all year, I can’t manage the second standing stage. It’s slowly becoming a matter of my head,” said Hettich-Walz in the ZDF interview.
Selina Grotian (3/+3:31.9), Vanessa Voigt (3/3:56.6), fourth in the Olympic individual, and Julia Tannheimer (4/+4:13.9) missed out on top placements. At least Fichtner was convincing. So far, a 16th place in the World Cup had been her best result. At the Olympics, the DSV team disappointed with only a bronze medal in the mixed relay.
Elvira Öberg from Sweden took her third win of the season after a flawless shooting performance ahead of her sister Hanna (1/+41.3 seconds) and Paulina Batovska Fialkova from the Czech Republic (1/45.0). Fichtner (0) was 1:25.9 minutes behind.
On Friday (5:10 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) the men’s individual over 20 km continues in Kontiolahti. Lucas Fratzscher, Philipp Horn, Philipp Nawrath, Leonhard Pfund and David Zobel are starting for DSV. Justus Strelow is out injured. The women’s mass start (1:40 p.m.) and the men’s 4×7.5km relay (3:40 p.m.) follow on Saturday.
