After the bronze medal in the relay, the German biathletes also wanted to attack in the mass start. However, there was no precious metal for them in the last World Championship race.
On Saturday, after a hard-fought race and many tears, the German biathletes were able to celebrate bronze in the relay (read more about an athlete’s tantrum here). On Sunday, the mass start was the last race of the Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto for women. It’s not enough to win a medal.
Gold went to France’s Braisaz-Bouchet. The Italian Lisa Vittozzi secured silver and the French Lou Jeanmonnot was able to celebrate bronze.
This is how the mass start went
From the start, the French women around Julia Simon, Lou Jeanmonnot and Justine Braisaz-Bouchet set their sights on the front and ran away. The field behind tried to keep up. The German athletes Vanessa Voigt and Franziska Preuß initially placed tenth and eleventh.
Then we went to the shooting range for the first time. In the prone position, Simon impressed with a lot of speed and pulled away. Preuß and Voigt also remained error-free. Preuß returned to the track in eighth place. Janina Hettich-Walz had to complete a penalty lap and ended up far back.
At this point, Simon was in the lead ahead of her teammate Braisaz-Bouchet and the Norwegian Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold. The Italian Lisa Vittozzi was also at the forefront. In the second prone position, Simon made a mistake and had to go into the round. Just like Prussia. Voigt and Hettich-Walz delivered a flawless performance.
Braisaz-Bouchet was now in the lead ahead of Vittozzi and the Norwegians Juni Arnekleiv and Tandrevold. Voigt was back in tenth place. Preuss as seventeenth. Simon made up time on the track and was able to catch up with her teammate. Then it was time for the first standing stop.
Braisaz-Bouchet hit all the targets and kept the lead. Simon and Arnekleiv had to complete one lap. Vittozzi took over the pursuit of Braisaz-Bouchet. Voigt made no mistakes and finished ninth. Preuss could also shine. Janina Hettich-Walz made a mistake. As does Selina Groatian.
In the final shooting, Braisaz-Bouchet cleared everything and secured the gold medal. Silver went to Vittozzi, who also made no mistakes. Bronze to Jeanmonnent. Voigt, like Preuss, remained error-free. Voigt crossed the finish line in sixth place as the best German. Preuss came seventh.