The German biathlon team crowned a brilliant final day of the European Championships in Norway with another silver medal. A few hours after the silver coup in the men’s relay, Mareike Braun, Hanna Kebinger, Julia Kink and Marlene Fichtner also finished second in the women’s relay.
After a strong performance, the German biathletes only had to admit defeat to the French team on Sunday, who won gold in three of four women’s races at the European Championships. Only in the individual event did none of the team’s athletes end up at the top of the podium.
In the last race of the title fights, the German team was only 16.6 seconds short of the title. Third place went to the Norwegian selection, which needed one spare less than the DSV team, but was clearly inferior on the cross-country ski trail and crossed the finish line 56 seconds after France.
German biathlon relay briefly on course for gold
Braun and Kebinger put the German team in an excellent starting position by half time. Both of them only used three spares each and ensured that Julia Kink was clearly on course for the podium in second place at the second change.
Kink, on the other hand, even took the lead after her first shooting, but gave it back to Norway after the standing stage. Until the last change, France also overtook the DSV team.
With a flawless performance in prone shooting, Fichtner even gave the German team a sniff of their first gold of this European Championship, but their only spare shot in the standing position was one too many against the outstanding French women.
After disappointing first days of the European Championship, the German team still managed to turn things around again. In the last four races, the DSV team won three silver and one bronze medals. In addition to the two relays on Sunday, Leonhard Pfund and Simon Kaiser also made it onto the podium in the pursuit.
