The German biathletes started the season with three podium finishes. The second row was also impressive, pushing forward with self-confidence.
With three podium finishes in four races, the German skiers have had the best start to the season since the winter of 2015/2016, even without the retired Erik Lesser, Simon Schempp, Arnd Peiffer and Franziska Preuß, who is absent due to illness. “II am very impressed, especially by the young people. The whole team is really good“said French Beijing Olympic champion Quentin Fillon Maillet.
Next generation is getting ready
Right from the start, the young Germans in Kontiolahti, Finland, showed that they didn’t want to hide. With David Zobel and Justus Strelow, the men’s team is heading in the right direction, led by Benedikt Doll and Roman Rees.
The World Cup newcomers Anna Weidel and Sophia Schneider were also among the front runners with confidence. Vanessa Voigt, who is only contesting her second World Cup winter from the start, underlined her performances from the previous season in Kontiolahti.
Herrmann-Wick is happy about strong DSV offspring
For Olympic champion Denise Herrmann-Wick, on the other hand, the focus is primarily on the home World Championships in Oberhof in February. “Everything that happens up to that point is more or less the way to get there“. She sees the pressure from below positively.”It’s nice to see that the young girls, especially those in their mid-20s, are making good connections. You could see in training that they are hot and want to run“, so the flagship athlete of the DSV. “DWhat are you doing extremely well at the moment?r”, said the 32-year-old oldest in the team: “We hope that this will continue“.
A good start brings self-confidence
In any case, the good start already brings a lot of self-confidence with a view to the home World Cup. “We’ve seen a lot of great results. Above all from athletes who have not yet drawn attention to themselves with top results in recent years, who have made the connection to the world’s best“, said the new sports director Felix Bitterling. “It does something for the team, in a very positive way.”
New assistant coaches are doing a good job
At DSV, the right buttons were apparently pressed with the two new assistant coaches Uros Velepec from Slovenia (men) and Sverre Olsbu Röiseland from Norway (women). “That shows that we did a lot right“, said Roman Rees, who was third in the overall standings. Velepec was also satisfied: “This week was very good, better than we expected. We’re happy but it’s a long season. I hope we can continue.”
And not only Anna Weidel benefits from working with Röiseland. “I’ve never experienced such a good mood as now. It’s fun with Sverre. He brings a cool input and he complements each other well with Kristian Mehringer“said the 26-year-old.
The next chance for good results will be available on Thursday in Hochfilzen, Austria.