Saturday, November 27th, 2021
Strong DSV result at the World Cup
Herrmann races to the podium for the biathlon prelude
The biathlon world cup kicked off in Östersund: Denise Herrmann showed a strong performance in the first women’s individual race over 15 kilometers and came in third. Anna Weidel is the only one besides the winner Markéta Davidová to stay clear in all shots – but narrowly missed the Olympic qualification.
Denise Herrmann gave the German biathlon team a great start into the Olympic winter. The 32-year-old took a strong third place in the individual race over 15 kilometers at the World Cup start in Östersund. Herrmann was 1: 23.0 minutes behind the faultless individual world champion Marketa Davidova from the Czech Republic and the Austrian Lisa Theresa Hauser (1 / + 1: 17.7) with only one shooting error. The Saxon was only 5.3 seconds short of Hauser.
For Herrmann it was the 15th podium in her career. She has already made the qualification for the Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th) perfect. “I’m happy with the start. The run was still a bit tough, but I expected it. One mistake annoys me, but I feel stable in shooting,” said Herrmann on ZDF.
Weidel stays perfectly at the shooting range
The second best biathlete of the German Ski Association (DSV) was surprisingly Anna Weidel at a freezing-cold minus 8.5 degrees. After an impeccable shooting performance (+2: 28.6), the 25-year-old secured ninth place and half the DSV norm for the Olympics (once Top 8, twice Top 15) – just like Vanessa Voigt (1 / + 2: 51 , 8) as twelfth. For Weidel and Voigt it was the best World Cup result of their careers. Weidel missed the direct Olympic qualification by just 0.9 seconds.
The start did not go quite as well for Franziska Preuss, who had finished third in the overall World Cup last winter. The 27-year-old had to be content with four shooting errors (+3: 28.3) in 23rd place. Nevertheless, she is “positive” for the upcoming races. The World Cup kick-off took place in front of fans for the first time, and there are no restrictions in Sweden despite the corona pandemic.
For the men, the season starts with the individual over 20 kilometers at 3 p.m. On Sunday, the 7.5 and 10 kilometer sprints (11 a.m. and 1.45 p.m. / ZDF) are on.