ÖSTERSUND, Sweden – A disastrous shooting performance plagued the German biathlon team in the first individual race of the Olympic winter, resulting in a collective 39 errors and a disappointing day for the DSV squad. Overall World Cup winner Franziska Preuß finished 29th in the 15-kilometer event, falling far short of expectations with four shooting errors.
Dorothea Wierer of Italy won the race with two errors, narrowly defeating Finland’s Sonja Leinamo (+0.3 seconds, 1 error) and France’s Camille Bened (+8.4 seconds, 1 error). Wierer secured her 17th career victory despite nearly not starting due to a cold.
“What unsettles me the most is the running time,” preuß said on ZDF. “I didn’t let myself down. but somehow you still get quite a lot every round. It is what it is. I hope that you can improve.”
Janina Hettich-Walz was the top-performing German, finishing 17th, but also with four shooting errors. Vanessa Voigt (3 errors), Marlene Fichtner (5), Selina Grotian (6), Anna Weidel (8), and Julia Tannheimer (9) also struggled.
“We have to do better and attack again. Panicking now certainly won’t help,” stated DSV sports director Felix Bitterling. ZDF expert Denise Herrmann-Wick noted the high error count, but expressed confidence Preuß wouldn’t “fall into a hole now.”
Preuß will have another prospect to regain form in Friday’s sprint (4 p.m.ZDF and Eurosport), following a disappointing 11th-place finish in Saturday’s season opener.
Source: ntv.de, tsi/sid
