Biathlon: Innerhofer sprints to top ten in Oberhof

The Norwegian won her fourth World Cup victory ahead of German Denise Herrmann and Frenchwoman Julia Simon, who both missed and were 33.1 and 47.4 seconds behind Röiseland.

“In terms of running, the first two rounds were particularly good. It was perfect when I was shooting, so I also saw well. Standing, I had a hard time with the view and unfortunately made two mistakes. The final round was hard not only because of the penalty rounds, ”reported Innerhofer after her second top ten place in the current season.

The other four Austrians – Christina Rieder (49.), Tamara Steiner (71.), Dunja Zdouc (73.) and Simone Kupfner (as 100th last) – missed World Cup points. Lisa Theresa Hauser was not at the start due to illness.

First ÖSV podium would be a surprise

On Friday (2.30 p.m., live in ORF1), Austria’s men will also start the new year with a sprint (10 km). The seasons and mass start competitions for women and men are on the program on Saturday and Sunday. The chances of getting the first ÖSV podium this winter are not very big, as some athletes do not arrive in full possession of their strength – or not at all.

Hauser had to skip the sprint at least due to a flu infection, Dominik Landertinger completely foregoes the races in Oberhof. The ex-world champion puts in a physiotherapy block instead and only wants to be at the next World Cup station next week in Ruhpolding. The hopes of the men rest on Julian and Tobias Eberhard, Felix Leitner, Simon Eder, David Komatz and Harald Lemmerer.

Groß is already thinking about the World Cup in Antholz

“For Julian, Simon and Harald, who were recently a bit battered, the main thing is to get back into the normal World Cup process,” explained ÖSV head coach Ricco Groß. In addition, it was important for all starters to recommend themselves for further assignments with good performances in the relay – also with regard to the World Cup in the second half of February in Antholz. “We did good training sessions in Hochfilzen between Christmas and New Year,” said Groß.

In Oberhof, on the other hand, the organizers had to deal with the low snowfall. In order to secure the World Cup in the Thuringian Forest, more than 30 truckloads of snow from Gelsenkirchen, over 400 kilometers away, were loaded. There the World Team Challenge of the biathletes took place on December 28th in the arena of Schalke 04.

Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof

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