France won a thrilling mixed relay. Sweden finished second despite 18 spares. Things went well in the German mixed relay, but a penalty loop by Philipp Nawrath ended hopes of a podium finish.
Janina Hettich-Walz was the starting runner for the DSV team. The 26-year-old made two spares and also lost time on the cross-country ski run. In fourth place, 28.3 seconds back, Hettich-Walz handed over to Vanessa Voigt. “I can be satisfied with the shooting. I tried to shoot fast to gain time. It was difficult for me to run. I’m glad that I can put my feet up for a few days”, said Hettich-Walz in an interview with the sports show.
After the first change, the favored mixed relay from Italy was in the lead. Lisa Vitozzi shot clean and was 2.5 seconds ahead of France’s Lou Jeanmonnot, who also cleared all the targets. But Italy quickly lost the lead. Samuela Comola, who came on short notice for Dorothea Wierer, made a total of five mistakes.
Vanessa Voigt missed three times and also lost time on the final lap. With 35 seconds under her belt, she sent Philipp Nawrath on the lap. Voigt was annoyed at the finish: “I couldn’t calm my legs yesterday and neither did I today.”
Head-to-head race at the top
At the front it was tight at the third exchange: Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold finished almost at the same time as Caroline Colombo from France. But Johannes Dale lost a lot of time against the strong competition. Martin Ponsiluoma now brought the Swedes closer to the French and was only two seconds behind Eric Perrot after his lap.
Nawrath with penalty loop, Doll brings relay near the podium
Nawrath did not manage to bring the German mixed relay forward. At the last shooting he had to go into the penalty loop. At the finish, the Bavarian was 47.6 seconds behind Perrot. “I’m satisfied with the mileage. When shooting, I wanted to isolate myself from the others. Unfortunately, I didn’t succeedn”, according to Nawrath.
Final runner Benedikt Doll shot clean in the first shooting, the competition failed and a podium finish was suddenly possible again. But in standing Doll had to reload twice. Germany finished fourth, 1:07.7 back.
decision in the last shooting
The victory in the mixed relay was only decided in the last shooting. Fabien Claude and Sebastian Samuelsson arrived at the shooting range at the same time – the Frenchman cleared all targets, the Swede had to reload twice. Despite 18 spares, Sweden secured second place (+33.6 seconds) thanks to a strong running performance, third was the mixed relay from Norway (+38.3 seconds).
Excitement about Bö brothers
Even before the start there was a lot of excitement in Nove Mesto. Dominator Johannes Thingnes Bö and his brother Tarjei had made positive corona test results public after the double victory in the pursuit race. “We don’t know if we have it or not. But John and I had positive tests with a faint line,” second-placed Tarjei Bö told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.