Drama about Anna Weidel: The German biathlete fought for minutes with her rifle in the individual competition at the World Championships in Oberhof. Her DSV teammate Denise Herrmann-Wick then showed sympathy.
Desperate, Anna Weidel blew into the rear sight of her rifle. But on the third shooting of the individual competition at the Biathlon World Championships, something was stuck in the gun that simply blinded her.
“I noticed in training that something was stuck in the diopter,” explained Weidel on “ARD” after her completely botched first World Cup appearance, in which she drove over 14 minutes to the new world champion Hanna Öberg in 87th place. But despite the thorough cleaning, “it was back,” said the 26-year-old disappointed.
Weidel then had a wrench brought in to clean her gun, but there didn’t appear to be any improvement. Despite the four penalties and the tears in her eyes, she continued her race with great sportsmanship. When two more targets failed at the fourth shooting, the day was finally over.
Herrmann-Wick: “You really are helpless”
“I tried my best, but it pretty much went haywire,” Anna Weidel had to admit after the race.
The drama surrounding the DSV ski hunter also took top star Denise Herrmann-Wick visibly with her, who had already arrived at the finish area at the time. “You really are helpless there. It’s almost impossible to score when you’re lying down. I gave Anna that, but there are still a few races to come.”
However, the sprint world champion was not satisfied with her own performance. Herrmann-Wick finished 15th with a total of four penalties and more than three minutes behind. “You can only make one mistake in singles,” she complained. Best German was Sophia Schneider (13th), also with four errors.