Otepää (dpa) – The German mixed relay finished fourth at the Biathlon World Cup in Otepää. However, Roman Rees, Benedikt Doll, Vanessa Voigt and Denise Herrmann had nothing to do with the podium decision in Estonia.
After a total of six spare rounds, the quartet was 1:53.7 minutes behind winner Norway after a total of 30 kilometers. After seven spares, the Olympic champion won in 1:19.39 minutes in front of Sweden (8 spares/22.5 seconds back) and France (6/34.6 seconds back).
In the last mixed relay of the winter, starting runner Rees had major problems on the shooting range, handing over to Doll after a total of five spare rounds, 1:16.9 minutes behind Olympic champion Norway in 13th place. “It wasn’t a good day for me,” Rees said on ARD. The cartridge got stuck on the first shot, and the 29-year-old had to remove the magazine again. “It went on forever, it was kind of a totally stupid situation.”
Former World Champion Doll managed to get by with one spare in second place, handing over to Vanessa Voigt in sixth place – the gap to the Norwegian team, which was still in the lead, had grown to 1:42.2 minutes. Despite shooting flawlessly, Vanessa Voigt was also barely able to make up time, handing over to Denise Herrmann in fifth place, 1:40.2 minutes behind the leader, a good 50 seconds in third place. The Olympic champion also remained flawless at the shooting range, but the podium places were too far away.
In the single mixed, Franziska Preuß and Erik Lesser finished third at the end of the World Cup in Otepää. In the last relay race of the winter, after a total of four spares, the German duo was behind the winning team from Norway with Marte Olsbu Röiseland and Sturla Holm Laegreid and the second-placed Swedes with Hanna Öberg and Sebastian Samuelsson. The German duo finished 17.9 seconds behind the Norwegians, who used just a single spare in eight shooting bouts.