Elvira Öberg has already given up the fight for the overall biathlon world cup in the past few days. Not Lisa Vittozzi. After her second place in Östersund, the Italian sent a small challenge to Julia Simon, who was still in the lead.
Lisa Vittozzi reached her first big goal on Thursday. With her second place, the 28-year-old secured the small crystal globe in the individual ranking. But it wasn’t easy for the Italian.
“It was difficult because I knew it was going to be the Individual World Cup. I’ve been thinking about this race for two weeks. The wait was nerve-wracking,” Vittozzi said in a statement from the Italian Biathlon Federation.
The Italian didn’t show her nervousness during the race. Vittozzi kept his nerve, especially on the shooting range, and all 20 shots were on target. In the end, she was just 25.5 seconds behind her teammate Dorothea Wierer, who was also flawless. Denise Herrmann-Wick (one mistake), on the other hand, was third, 1:13 minutes behind Vittozzi, who also showed a strong performance on the cross-country ski run.
“The individual was probably the only race of the season before which I felt any tension. But I reacted well. My experiences over the past few years have allowed me to mature,” said the 28-year-old, who now has her first goal achieved aims for an even bigger one.
“I don’t want to tick off the overall World Cup just yet. History in biathlon has shown us that anything can happen,” she sent a small declaration of war to Julia Simon, who was still in the lead. The Frenchwoman’s lead is currently 148 points.
Vittozzi will get the next chance to make up points on Simon on Sunday in the mass start. Only five days later, the season finale in Oslo is on the agenda. There are still numerous points to be awarded in three individual races in the fight for the big crystal ball.