Julian Eberhard believes that world champion Lisa Hauser is also capable of the big hit in the title fights in Oberhof. How he assesses Simon Eder and where Austria’s cross-country skiers are lagging behind the international competition.
After more than 15 years in the World Cup, four individual victories and two World Championship medals, biathlete Julian Eberhard drew the line last year. He remained true to the sport, meanwhile he works as a “ServusTV” expert and, before today’s start of the World Championships in Oberhof, takes the Austrian team for the “crown”, which contests the mixed relay with the quartet Komatz, Eder, Zdouc and Hauser , under the magnifying glass. Julian Eberhard on… World Cup favorite Lisa Hauser: She is the leading figure. The fact that this puts more pressure on her doesn’t make a big difference to Lisa. On a good day, it is one of the fastest on the trail and has an extremely high hit rate. In addition, she has the coolness to work through the decisive last series of shooting cleanly. Her overall package is world champion, Lisa is a medal candidate in every competition. Her environment is challenged to get the best out of it together with her…. Veteran Simon Eder: He has the experience and composure – if there is a chance for him, then he will strike. I would never underestimate him!… Felix Leitner’s World Cup exit: At the beginning of the season he had expressed problems in the service area and had more and more doubts. It was a vicious circle, now he has pulled the emergency brake…. the season so far from an Austrian point of view: you have to differentiate between men and women. What Lisa Hauser has shown so far is extraordinary. I find Anna Gandler refreshing, Tamara Steiner and Dunja Zdouc are very consistent, Anna Juppe has great potential in terms of skiing. The men’s high hit rate is noticeable, so there were good relay performances. If you want to have a say at the front, you have to be able to make one or two mistakes. We don’t have that level…. the running weakness of the Austrian men: It’s obvious that we’re no longer among the front runners. The ÖSV is asked to set up structures. We had several exceptions and were a compact team. That’s missing now. There is a new head coach (Vegard Bitnes, note) and an external advisor (Dominik Landertinger) in the association, who have certainly started there. However, you can’t see any results yet…. the importance of top material: You never get a medal alone, but only with a great team. We had coordination problems that were not due to the ski outfitters, as far as I heard. At a World Cup, not good material is required, but very good material!… the mixed relay: 2021 there was silver. This time a medal would be an even greater sensation, the opponents have become even more powerful…. his World Cup prognosis: if we get a medal, we can be satisfied.
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