Julia Tannheimer is the best German in the biathlon sprint in Östersund. She meets the Olympic standard.
The German biathletes still have to wait for their first podium finish in the Olympic winter.
In the absence of the ill Franziska Preuß, Julia Tannheimer was the best DSV runner in the Östersund sprint in eighth place; one shooting error meant she missed her first career podium by half a minute.
Up front, the flawless Finn Suvi Minkkinen celebrated her premiere victory in 20:11.9 minutes; Swede Anna Magnusson (0 penalty loops/+16.6 seconds) and Oceance Michelon (0/+20.8) from France completed the podium.
Preuß had canceled her participation on Friday morning due to a cold after her botched start to the season, meaning she will automatically also miss the pursuit race on Sunday (1:15 p.m. CET). “She has felt ill since Thursday, with a sore throat. In order not to jeopardize the further course of the season, we decided together with her not to take any risks in order to restore her ability to compete as quickly as possible,” said DSV team doctor Jan Wüstenfeld.
With eighth place, Tannheimer was the first German to meet the standard for the Olympic Games. “That’s of course mega,” said the top talent on ZDF : “That’s a good step in the right direction.” Selina Grotian (2/+1:30.6 minutes) and Vanessa Voigt (1/+1:32.0) also scored points after 7.5 kilometers.
Janina Hettich-Walz (+1:43.3) missed the tangible top result with three mistakes in the standing shooting, Anna Weidel (1/+1:48.0) and Marlene Fichtner (2/+1:53.5) at least reached the pursuit race.
“`