Uldal Surprises - Strong Horn Just Misses Podium

Biathlon-Weltcup: Uldal überrascht - starker Horn schrammt am Podest vorbei

In the French town of Annecy, Philipp Horn just missed the podium. He was surprisingly overtaken by Martin Uldal, who finished ahead of Johannes Thingnes Bø. Swedish athlete Sebastian Samuelsson took third place.

The weather during the first day of the final World Cup weekend of the year in Annecy was challenging, characterized by rain in the morning that resulted in difficult racing conditions for the 100 athletes. Each miss on the shooting range resulted in a penalty lap.

Philipp Horn delivered the best performance among the German team, navigating the course strongly and leading the standings for a significant period. However, he missed one target during the standing shooting stage, costing him a place in the top three by just 17.8 seconds. Despite this setback, his 90% shooting accuracy allowed him to maintain a strong position and celebrate the best result of his season. Horn expressed his relief at staying calm during the shooting phase and demonstrated excellent performance on the course.

Colleague Philipp Nawrath had secured a podium finish in Kontiolahti and confirmed his excellent form with an eighth-place finish in Hochfilzen. He continued his strong performance in Annecy, aiming offensively in the race.

Johannes Kühn struggled again this season, finishing 25th after missing two shots, while Danilo Riethmüller had a frustrating outing with four penalty laps, yet still managed to qualify for the pursuit despite finishing 29th.

Also participating was Simon Kaiser, who struggled in his World Cup debut, finishing 39th.