Justus Strelow and Janina Hettich-Walz ensured the first German victory in “Biathlon auf Schalke” since 2016. The German duo prevailed over the French duo Lou Jeanmonnot and Fabien Claude on Sunday (December 28, 2025) after a combined mass start and pursuit race in front of around 40,000 spectators in the Gelsenkirchen football stadium.
Strelow and Hettich-Walz laid the foundation for the victory against the stronger French runners with only five penalties in a total of 16 shots. Strelow made a small preliminary decision at the first standing stage when he made no mistakes. Claude, on the other hand, had to go into the 75-meter penalty loop twice and made the substitution almost 30 seconds after the German.
A penalty loop in Hettich-Walz’s last standing stage caused the lead to shrink again to 11.6 seconds. So there was a showdown between Strelow and Claude in the last shooting and the last two of the 18 1.4 kilometer long laps. However, the German made no mistakes, while the Frenchman had to make another penalty lap. The lead was enough, Strelow crossed the finish line first and fell jubilantly into the arms of Hettich-Walz.
Strelow/Hettich-Walz win mass start
The Germans Justus Strelow and Janina Hettich-Walz also won the first competition, the mass start race. After eight shooting sessions and nine 1.4 kilometer laps, the German duo won with four shooting errors ahead of the French duo Lou Jeamonnot and Fabien Claude. Jeanmonnot/Claude had to complete the 75 meter long penalty loop seven times and were 10.8 seconds behind after the mass start.
German teams Best on Mass start skiingßstand
The Norwegian team Juni Arnekleiv and Mats Oeverby were third in the interim (6 penalties/+28.9 seconds). In fourth place and lying in wait, Marlene Fichtner and Danilo Riethmüller were 34.0 seconds behind with four penalties at the halfway point of the race.
After their mass start victory, the mass start winners Strelow and Hettich-Walz were able to enjoy a third of the total prize money of more than 30,000 euros – two thirds were paid out in the pursuit race. However, the Germans were not able to completely take their lead from the mass start with them. The intervals have been reduced to 5.0 seconds per following place.