Franziska Preuß had been plunged into a true emotional chaos at her greatest World Cup triumph on Sunday.
BLAY, but tired: Biathlon queen Franziska Preuß has returned to German soil after her triumph in Oslo. The freshly baked overall World Cup winner landed on Monday afternoon after the final drama on the legendary wooden scale with three “well-packed” crystal balls on the luggage car and the yellow jersey in her pocket in Munich. Ski jumper Karl Geiger just came back from the Finnish Lahti and also congratulated.
“Today I have to make up for a few hours of sleep,” said the 31-year-old at the airport: “I used to put the final party away better, so not much will happen today.” She celebrated her victory between Wachstruck outdoors.
Norway party: “Was like a small festival”
The Norwegians celebrated a party to say goodbye to Biathlon dominator Johannes Thingnes Bö. “It was like a small festival, a cool evening,” said Preuss. Despite the drama with the French and crystal ball competitor Lou JeanMonnot, she was on the road a lot in the “French camp”, “all of whom had been frightened”.
Preuss had been plunged into a true emotional chaos on Sunday at her biggest World Cup triumph. JeanMonnot fell in the final round, as she admitted later when both biathletes were at the top in the race. The French woman had five points ahead of the overall World Cup before the start of the mass start and would have been one overall winner with place. In the end it was only the disappointing third place, whereupon the French team took protest against the rating, but withdrawn it a little later.
After the showdown, however, the DSV athlete struck directly conciliatory tones and JeanMonnot “said that you should actually cut the ball in the middle and everyone gets half.” Even with one day, she wishes “no athlete such an experience”, even if it was “great advertising” for biathlon sports.
Preuss puts fable season
For Prussia it was by far the best season of her career. In the World Cup she celebrated four individual victories, secured the small crystal balls in the sprint and the mass start and shone with four medals at the World Championships in Lenzerheide.
The 31-year-old is the sixth German winner of the big crystal ball. In front of her, Martina Glagow (2002/03), Kati Wilhelm (2005/06), Andrea Henkel (2006/07), Magdalena Neuner (2007/08, 2009/10 and 2011/12) and Laura Dahlmeier (2016/17) won the overall World Cup.