Biathlon World Cup in Lenzerheide: Bronze for the German Men’s Season

When the legs hurt the most, Philipp Horn thought of Marco Morgenstern. Morgenstern once had to struggle with circulatory problems in a World Cup relay race so much that he came up with the climbs and fell into the snow-and that is exactly what Horn wanted to prevent this afternoon at the biathlon World Cup in Lenzerheide. On the top of the last hill in his relay race in Switzerland, he was on the bronze for ten seconds before the combative Sebastian Samuelsson from Sweden. “It just made it peng and I almost couldn’t move,” said Horn, “I thought I was doing the morning star right away.” But: he was still moving and secured the German men their first World Cup medal in Switzerland.

A success with which hardly anyone could reckon with before: this world championship in Lenzerheide was largely disappointing for the German men. The team from Philipp Nawrath, Danilo Riethmüller, Johannes Kühn and Horn celebrated all the more solved this Saturday in front of 17,000 spectators in the Roland Arena. “I think the last time was in my wedding when the tears were in my eyes in my eyes. It was really, very, very emotionally straight, ”said Horn when the 30-year-old stood in front of the microphones with the medal around his neck. In 2020 it had recently worked with silver in Antholz.

Start -up runner Nawrath needed four followers, Riethmüller three, then the flawless Johannes Kühn brought the team back near the medal. Also because the competition failed. The victorious Norwegians (four relegates) and France (seven relegates) ran their own races in front, but the fight for bronze remained almost exciting.

The final runner Horn initially showed nerves when three slices stopped after five shots. “I said to myself, now tear you together, it really has to fit now,” said Horn afterwards. So he prevented the penalty round, presented his good shape on the trail and finally came to the last shooting with Samuelsson. “To be honest, I didn’t notice the duel. I was really very with myself and I have prudent what I can do, ”said Horn. While he sank all the slices, the Swede had to use an additional cartridge and lost valuable time. And he could no longer intercept this horn, which spent himself to the finish and then stayed completely flat. In the end, ten relegates were in the balance sheet for Germany.

At the finish line, some tears, also with Johannes Kühn: he now managed his first World Cup success in Lenzerheide at the age of 33-and immediately indicated his end of his career: “This is my last World Cup.” He is still planning until the Olympics in the coming year. “Plans can change, but now the plan is like that.” For German men in Switzerland in the individual races, the many shooting errors had mainly caused them to be left behind by the competition. Nobody had run into the top 15 in sprint and persecution. The relay success was therefore gratefully accepted. For the German Ski Association (DSV) it was the fifth medal in Switzerland, but the first in which Franziska Preuss was not involved.

France’s women’s relay wins the title with a huge lead

A few hours in front of the men, the women’s team around Prussia ended the season in fifth place after a penalty round by starting runner Sophia Schneider. The French women were unrivaled to the title in this race: Julia Simon had so much lead in the final round that she could clap with the spectators, for coffee and a piece of cake would have remained. The 28-year-old enjoyed the situation with relish: after her second flawless shooting insert, she turned to the audience and bowed, there was scene applause. There was not a single pursuer around her around her. It was only over a minute and a half the Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide to the shooting range and secured her team silver (a penalty round, eight afterlades) from the third -placed Swedes (1+8).

Franziska Preuß, already decorated in Lenzerheide with four medals, could have rewarded the German chase of the Germans with bronze, but their two relegates were too much on the last shooting. Start runner Sophia Schneider had to be comforted at the finish line after her mistake at the shooting range. “I didn’t get the stress away from the route when shooting. I am very disappointed. This is not cool when the season starts. I am sorry for the girls, ”said Schneider, who was the first to be run as a starting runner, in the ARD. She transferred to Selina Grotian to position 16, who made three places well despite three additional cartridges.

Julia Tannheimer kept the hopes of a medal alive: the 19-year-old came through with only one relief and performed the team to sixth place. In the end, the final runner Preuss left luck at the shooting range. “It became a bit more restless from a shot to the shot,” said Preuss, who had invested a lot on the route to get back within reach of a podium. “Franzi is also just a person,” said sports director Felix Bitterling.

The last races in Lenzerheide are planned with the mass starts on Sunday, but for the men there was still enjoying the plan. “Nobody will think of all the bad results in a few years. We will remember the day how we celebrated emotionally here and how we enjoyed the award ceremony, ”said Horn. Conclusion: “Today is just a great day.” One who came very much.