Justus Strelow knows the agony of last rounds pretty well. The 28-year-old is an outstanding shooter, 94 percent hit performance was achieved over the past season-a record. But on the cross -country ski run, the biathlete is rather small and agile as a brand super sprinter. And so on Wednesday he had little opportunity to enjoy the mountain backdrop at the start of the World Cup in Lenzerheide. After leaving the shooting range on a silver rank as the final runner of the Mixed relay, the danger stir from behind tirelessly. She was called Michal Krcmar, came from the Czech Republic – and actually snapped the silver medal.
Strelow went back to the trail with a lead of 20 seconds, Krcmar came up meter by meter. Strelow threw himself completely out about the finish line, his colleagues Selina Grotian and Franziska Preuss ran towards him, with Philipp Nawrath in his luggage there was later a jubilee of the successful quartet: for the first time in six years the Germans have been a World Cup medal succeeded in this competition. And that even caused tears of joy despite the lost final round. “You can tell that there was pressure and it is now falling,” said Franziska Preuss on ZDF.
:Season, sprint and mass start: all appointments to the races
The World Championships in Biathlon will take place in Switzerland from February 12 to 23, 2025. An overview of when which race starts and who transfers the competitions on television.
Strelow had already come to a breath and of course: these last kilometers against the six -year -old Krcmar were “incredibly painful”, said the German. The bronze medal was the first remedy against exhaustion – and in general: it was his premiere as the final runner. France delivered a parade show (a penalty round and six after-loaders) and won gold in gold before the surprisingly triumphant Czechs (0+9). Co -favorite Norway quickly shot out of the medal race with two penalty rounds, but was surprisingly just under fourth behind the Germans, who had only partially convinced with eleven additional cartridges at the shooting range.
World Cup starts can often specify the direction for the following competitions, so this mixed season was of particular importance. Selina Grotian was the first German to track down in the Roland Arena; It is one of the young but almost indispensable starters in the German team. Your great strength: keep calm. At her second World Cup she mastered the task routinely, but not error -free. The first round had already had a fall of Sweden Anna Magnusson and Julia Simon from France, Grotian ran away uninvolved. At the first shooting, the 20-year-old had to strive two relegates, standing as well. Ingrid Landmark Tankrevold had already maneuvered Norway in the penultimate place with two penalty rounds. As the sixth, Grotian handed over to Franziska Preuss.
“I first showed nerves and then demonstrated nerves,” says Nawrath
Preuss has a lot to do in these competitions in Switzerland, after all, she is in the lead in the overall ranking, which arouses desires in the direction of medals. Lou JeanMonnot as the second French starter ran her own race at the front, even Simon’s falling could hardly harm the team. Franziska Preuß each made a subsequent loader lying and standing, as the fourth she clapped with Philipp Nawrath (+54.9 seconds).
After the women made their contribution, the best German was currently on the trail in Nawrath, and then after the first shooting, medal opportunities were in sight again because the competition briefly said goodbye. Despite five relays, Nawrath was in third place in the meantime, but lost a position until the change. Impressive: France led the Italians, which had been secondly placed until then.
In the second shooting, Nawrath had to fight the penalty round, which can certainly be called his trauma. At the Olympic Games in Beijing three years ago, he failed in the last shooting in the fight for Olympic gold, with his extra round it was only fourth. Nawrath was all the more relieved that he was now doing better in Lenzerheide. “I first showed nerves and then demonstrated nerves by turning the penalty round,” he said on ZDF.
Actually, Philipp Nawrath would have been the natural runner for this season due to his runner qualities, but the tactics in the German Ski Association (DSV) were different: prefer to put Justus Strelow on the safe shooter.
And so it was Strelow, who could conjure up even more from this race than an ungrateful fourth place. While Emilia Jacquelin was able to do a penalty for France in the last shooting and nevertheless drove over the finish line as a world champion, Strelow scored all ten slices and thus lifted off the rest of the team. “Justus delivered incredibly at the shooting range. Madness to be able to witness this, ”said Philipp Nawrath. He knows best how difficult it is.