The German biathletes Selina Grotian and Justus Strelow went through a rollercoaster of emotions in the single mixed relay on Sunday (January 12, 2025). In the end, third place came out.
In a crazy race in front of 20,500 spectators in bright sunshine in Oberhof, Grotian and Strelow came third after a total of eleven reloads. The surprise winner was Finland (Tero Seppälä and Suvi Minkkinen) ahead of France (Paula Botet and Quentin Fillon Maillet).
While Strelow shot outstandingly and only needed one reloader for his 20 targets, Grotian, who was only 20 years old, had nothing going for her at the shooting range. Three times she had the penalty loop on her back, three times she was able to avoid it and get back in touch with fast skis. Only after the last shooting did the hope of victory disappear.
“Mega job from Justus”
“Justus did a mega job. I can learn a lesson from that”said Grotian after the race on ZDF. Strelow had “a lot of fun”. It was just a great day. The short round was exactly to his liking and played into his hands.
Strelow shoots incredibly well
Strelow opened the race for Germany and had the stands trembling with two flawless rapid-fire performances. The 27-year-old from Dippoldiswalde cleared all the targets without a spare and sent Grotian onto the track first at the first change. The lead over Slovenia and France was small and disappeared after the first shooting.
Grotian needed a spare and fell back to fifth place. However, the distances remained small. During the standing attack, the 20-year-old was shaking in the cauldron in Oberhof. Three panes remained standing. Grotian cleared them with his spares and avoided the 75 meter long penalty loop. Because the competition didn’t work properly at the shooting range, the gap remained small.
Grotian wobbles at the shooting range
With 12 seconds, Strelow started his second lap in fifth place. And again the Saxon worked magic at the shooting range. With a spare in the first shooting and a zero series in the standing position, Strelow took the lead again and sent Grotian first again on her second lap.
“Calm, trust and focus. You can do it”the trainers shouted to her on the way to the shooting range. But Grotian made it extremely exciting again, needed all three spares again in the prone position and lost the lead. In third place she was just behind Finland and France.
While her two opponents returned to the track without any mistakes, Grotian needed all three spares again. Grotian went back 23 seconds after the leading duo. Although the material was great, she couldn’t come close, but at least she saved third place.
Favorites knocked off
For Norway and Sweden, however, the day was disappointing. Norway had four penalties, which meant they couldn’t do better than eighth place. The Swedish team, which had recently triumphed in Kontiolahti, also didn’t have a good day and only ended up in twelfth place after two penalties.