Philipp Nawrath and Benedikt Doll were the German hopefuls for the individual race in Antholz. But someone else made it onto the podium.
Biathlete Johannes Kühn reached the podium at the start of the World Cup in Antholz. In the shortened individual over 15 kilometers, the 32-year-old took third place; after two shooting errors, he was 1:44.0 minutes behind the winner Johannes Thingnes Bö from Norway. For Kühn it was the first podium of the winter.
Behind Kühn, the debutant Danilo Riethmüller surprised. The 24-year-old, a short-term replacement for the ill Philipp Horn, finished in a strong seventh place (1 shooting error/+2:27.6). Roman Rees, winner of the individual from Östersund, also showed significant improvement after recent weak performances and came tenth (2/+2:41.3).
Doll with fiasco at the shooting range
The other Germans, however, were disappointing. Justus Strelow (3/+3:51.5 minutes), Philipp Nawrath (4/+4:54.5) and Benedikt Doll (6/+5:03.6) each missed out on a place in the top 20.
For the men, the single mixed (12.55 p.m.) and mixed relay (2.45 p.m.) are on the program on Saturday. The mass start follows on Sunday (12.30 p.m./everything in the live ticker on t-online).