Biathlon in Hochfilzen: Franziska Preuß had a dream day in the sprint

In the first sprint, Franziska Preuß narrowly missed the podium. In Hochfilzen, the Upper Bavarian sprinted to the top, cheered on by the many fans. With her victory, the 30-year-old also takes the lead in the overall World Cup.

Franzsika Preuß missed the podium by just 0.10 seconds in the first sprint of the season in Kontiolahti. But she couldn’t be beaten in Hochfilzen.

The Bavarian was very fast on the first lap, impressed with zero mistakes in the prone position and took to the track as the leader with a lead of 5.4 seconds over Dorothea Wierer. But the Italian showed nerves in the second shooting and had to go into the penalty loop twice.

Preuss slips into the yellow jersey

But Preuss also missed once. She was now 5.4 seconds behind Sophie Chauveau, who made no mistakes. Preuß gave everything on the cross-country ski trail and caught up second by second. At the finish she was 7.7 seconds ahead of the Frenchwoman. The Norwegian Karoline Offigstad Knotten came third, who like Chauveau made no mistakes (+10.1 seconds).. “I won the race on the track. Actually, after the mistake in the standing position, I thought it wasn’t enough”said a happy Preuß on ZDF. “I’m very satisfied, really surprising. I’m really pleased“Preuss enthused:” I felt good from the start and had really good legs. It’s super cool.“

For Preuß it was only the second triumph in the World Cup. The Bavarian won her only World Cup victory to date in the mass start in Ruhpolding on January 20, 2019 – 2,154 days ago. With her victory, Preuß snatched the yellow jersey from Elvira Öberg. The Swede had a bad day in Hochfilzen and had four penalties.

Grotian with best World Cup result

Selina Grotian was not satisfied with her start to the season in Kontiolahti. There she was unable to maintain her shooting performance and had to settle for places 48 and 50. In Hochfilzen, the Mittenwald native only missed once, was quick on the final lap and finished the race in fifth place. The 20-year-old also secured her World Cup ticket with the best result of her young career. “After the start in Kontiolahti, being at the front is a completely new world for me“Grotian said.

Vanessa Voigt (1/+44.7) came twelfth. Julia Thannheimer (29th) and Julia Kink (40th) missed twice, Marlene Fichtner finished the race in 46th place on her debut after a ticket.