Biathlon - Philipp Nawrath sprints into the Top Ten

Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen

Philipp Nawrath was once again the best German biathlete in the sprint. Despite a flawless shooting performance, he wasn’t able to secure a podium finish in Hochfilzen. Johannes Thingnes Bö narrowly won the event, edging out his compatriot Sturla Holm Laegreid.

Nawrath could not replicate his third-place finish from Kontiolahti, despite showcasing top shooting skills and hitting all targets. However, he struggled to keep pace with the leaders after the shooting. In the end, he finished eighth, 22 seconds behind. "I am quite satisfied. That was near a perfect performance at the shooting range; I hoped for a top six finish. The track was tough; perhaps the prior exertion was too much," Nawrath said in an interview. He managed to perform admirably and achieved the 13th best time on the track.

The battle for victory was heated between two Norwegians, Johannes Thingnes Bö and Sturla Holm Laegreid. Laegreid shot flawlessly, while Bö faced a penalty round after a missed shot during the last shooting session, starting his final round seven seconds behind Laegreid. However, Bö displayed incredible speed on the track, securing his first victory of the season by a margin of 4.2 seconds. Fabien Claude from France finished third (+6.8 seconds). With this win, Bö also claimed the yellow bib from Frenchman Eric Perrot, who finished in 13th place.

Many Shooting Errors from DSV Biathletes

Justus Strelow competed with a fierce determination following his 29th place finish in Kontiolahti. In the prone shooting, he cleared all targets but faltered at the standing shooting, missing his last target. Strelow finished 17th, narrowly missing out on the top 15.

Simon Kaiser, replacing David Zobel due to impressive IBU-Cup performances, made a solid run on his World Cup debut despite missing three targets, finishing 38th and expressing enthusiasm for the experience.

Philipp Horn also struggled with two missed shots and did not make it into the top 30. Johannes Kühn had a particularly challenging day with four penalty rounds, finishing in 59th place but still managing to qualify for the pursuit race. Danilo Riethmüller faced an even tougher situation, having missed five targets and placing 73rd, down from a fourth-place finish last week in the mass start event.

For standings and results, refer to the official link.