At the World Cup in Ruhpolding, the women’s pursuit is on the program. Will Franziska Preuß make it onto the podium this time?
Biathlete Franziska Preuß narrowly missed the podium in the Ruhpolding sprint. Will things go better in Sunday’s pursuit?
Preuß missed the podium by just 4.8 seconds. Despite her third fifth consecutive-place finish, she remained calm. “You can see how high the level is, how many shots flawlessly. It’s no longer enough to shoot zero, you also have to shoot zero quickly. If you look closely at the results list, fifth place is worth a lot,” Preuß said on ZDF .
Sweden’s Hanna Öberg won in 19:10.7 minutes ahead of France’s Lou Jeanmonnot (0 penalty loops/+7.5 seconds) and Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi (0/+11.7). After her illness before Christmas, Preuß was still missing a few percentage points on the track, ultimately she was 16.5 seconds behind Öberg.
This gives her a good starting position for the pursuit. As is well known, the starting order of the athletes in this competition is determined by the times from the sprint race.
The course is 10 km long, which Preuß and Co. must tackle this time. A special feature of the pursuit: unlike in the individual event, shooting is not done in alternating positions.
Instead, the starters first shoot twice in the prone position before having to shoot twice in the standing position. The field can quickly be shaken up: every missed shot means a penalty loop.