Biathlon Olympic champion Arnd Peiffer does not believe in more excitement in the men’s World Cup and sees a quality gap among the women due to the resignation of Denise Herrmann-Wick and Co.
According to Arnd Peiffer, there is little hope of more excitement in the biathlon men’s World Cup in the coming years. Johannes Thingnes Bö will continue to dominate, the 29-year-old Norwegian record hunter can “only become dangerous to himself”, judged today’s TV expert in the “Sportschau”.
“There are three components that make it so exceptional: running time, shooting rate and shooting speed,” said Peiffer, referring to Bö, who was the overall World Cup winner by a long way and won five golds and one silver and one bronze at the World Championships in Oberhof.
Added to this is Bö’s ability, “that he doesn’t need that much training to achieve top performance,” explained Peiffer.
Biathlon: Arnd Peiffer found the men’s World Cup “not satisfactory”
However, the biathlon dominator “will now also be measured in the future by this season, in which he ran half a minute or 45 seconds ahead. And if he was ‘just’ as fast as the second, it was said it was going downhill. The height of the fall is correspondingly huge,” said the 2018 Olympic sprint champion in Pyeongchang.
In all likelihood, the German biathletes will not be dangerous in the short or medium term. The conclusion of the season is “mixed”, said Peiffer.
Fourth place in the overall World Cup classification by Benedikt Doll is “a great result,” said Peiffer, who also praised the DSV relay results. “But there is a complete downside. The World Championships were not satisfactory. No medals in the relay, and – with a few exceptions – the German men didn’t really have a chance of winning a medal in the individual races.”
“Fewer podium places” for Germany’s biathlon women
For the biathlon women, Peiffer expects the resignation of superstars like Denise Hermann-Wick or Marte Olsbu Röiseland to have an impact. “Of course, the level will drop a little first,” predicted the 36-year-old.
Still, it won’t be any easier to finish on the podium in the coming season. “In addition, the boys in the field who move up have another year of training time,” added Peiffer.
From the point of view of the German women, the home world championships had “become a successful one,” said the biathlon expert. “If you were to take away two medals from Denise, it would of course look different.” Without Herrmann-Wick there will probably be “a few fewer podium places” in the World Cup in the future.
“There are a few areas that are very clear. When shooting, it’s the standing position and the shooting speed plus hit rate. The Germans were far from the best there,” analyzed Peiffer.