After the first relay podium of the winter, Philipp Nawrath looked confident towards the Olympics. The DSV quartet impressed at the dress rehearsal and thus underlined their ambitions.
After the first relay podium of the winter, Philipp Nawrath looked with some confidence towards the Olympics. “That gives us momentum and self-confidence. We showed that we can fight along,” said the DSV biathlete after a celebrated third place at the home World Cup in Ruhpolding.
Coincidentally, at the dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (February 6 to 22), Nawrath, Justus Strelow, David Zobel, and Danilo Riethmüller set the hopes-for signal behind France and Norway. On February 17, the Olympic relay over 4×7.5 km will take place in Antholz.
Even there, it’s only possible “with a super good team performance,” according to Nawrath: “We’ll take that with us. It’s really nice that it worked out so well and that a little bit of luck was finally on our side. You need that in important races.”
Biathlon: Top Favorites Remain France and Norway
The top favorites in the fight for relay medals are, however, France (once first, plus three second places) and Norway (once second, previously three times first). Alongside them, Sweden (this time fourth) will be the toughest competitor for the DSV quartet, which finished fourth and twice fifth in the first three season relays. “Everything is so close,” emphasizes Nawrath.
However, it is not yet clear what the German relay team will look like at the Olympics. So far, only Nawrath, Strelow, and Philipp Horn, who is absent from Ruhpolding due to illness, have met the norm (once Top 8, twice Top 15), while Zobel has at least met half of it. Riethmüller, Lucas Fratzscher, and Johannes Kühn still have the chance in Ruhpolding to recommend themselves for the season’s highlight.