Zhangjiakou (dpa) – The many hugs could not comfort Philipp Nawrath a bit. “I’m so sorry,” said the biathlete very quietly to his relay colleague Erik Lesser and was extremely emotional.
With a penalty loop in the final standing stage, the 29-year-old not only missed out on a medal at the Winter Games in China, but even missed out on a possible Olympic victory in a highly dramatic manner. “He could have been a superstar if he had scooped the gold medal today,” said Lesser. But instead of precious metal, there was a bitter fourth place after a thriller at the shooting range.
Just missed a medal
“Unfortunately we didn’t manage to simply take this gift, this medal on the tray, down and put it on our shoulders,” said Mark Kirchner. The national coach had thought gold for the German season possible at the beginning of the season and had been smiled at by many. “We had more than one finger on the medal,” Lesser summed up after his last Olympic race: “I know that someone has to finish fourth. And you have to be prepared for the fact that it can happen to you.”
But how it came about will occupy Bayer Nawrath in particular for a very long time. Russia’s long clear leader Eduard Latypow had just had two penalties, Nawrath came to the shooting range with Vetle Sjastad Christiansen of Norway and Quentin Fillon Maillet of France. Nawrath’s nerves gave out, even three spare rounds were not enough and he had to make the only penalty loop for Germany. On the final lap he couldn’t fight his way back. Norway secured gold that late, France silver and the Russian team bronze.
“A lot of thoughts went through my head. Of course, knowing that you could bag the thing now, that was the most important thing,” said Nawrath: “Not being completely callous, that annoys me now.” Now it will “take a while to get angry about it or to process it,” said the disappointed Nawrath.
He always makes up for such negative experiences with himself, he said with some distance at the finish. However, his teammates Lesser, Roman Rees and Benedikt Doll immediately assured him of any help. “He did his best and certainly has nothing to blame himself for,” said Doll: “We’re comforting each other now.”
Long wait for a title
In 2014 Germany won silver in Sochi, four years ago in Pyeongchang it was enough for the team to win Olympic bronze. For the first time since 2010, there was no relay medal for the DSV men in China, who had not won anything countable before the final mass start on Friday. The last time that happened was twelve years ago in Vancouver, Canada. “It just didn’t all come together at the right time. But that doesn’t mean that our men’s team did a bad job,” said Lesser, who will not continue his career until the 2026 Winter Games.
In freezing temperatures of minus 15.7 degrees, after a strong German run before the final shooting – with only six spares beforehand – Nawrath ended up alone in the finish area while everyone around him celebrated. “Today was a huge opportunity for everyone. That was really annoying,” said Nawrath in the icy wind. Because of these challenging conditions, the start had been brought forward two and a half hours, otherwise it might have been canceled.
It will also be extremely cold again for the women in Zhangjiakou on Wednesday (8.45 a.m. CET). Individual Olympic champion Denise Herrmann, who won the only German biathlon medal so far in the mountains north-west of Beijing, will be the last runner in the relay. With starting skier Vanessa Voigt, Vanessa Hinz and Franziska Preuss, the biathletes want to win an Olympic medal with the team for the first time in twelve years. In 2014 and 2018, the German Ski Association team went away empty-handed.
Weakest result ever threatened
After eight of eleven competitions, Herrmann and Co. only have three races left to avert the weakest German Olympic result ever. There has only been one medal since reunification in biathlon, two silver medals in Sochi in 2014 are the weakest result so far for the former medal collectors.
While his teammates are still allowed to compete in the mass starts on Friday and Saturday, Lesser’s Winter Games are over because the man from Oberhof failed to qualify. “I’m not taking anything with me from the Olympic Games. Neither a medal, nor a good result, a good time was so limited here,” he said: “We made the best of it as a team, but somehow I envy it I Arnd Peiffer, who said last season: bye bye, Beijing I won’t give myself anymore.”