Bitter relay performance: World champion Lisa Vittozzi was at least able to do some damage limitation. © Teyssot / Pierre TEYSSOT

Italy shoots itself into the relay debacle

Italy's women's relay team experienced a debacle at the World Cup in Nove Mesto. It was only with difficulty that the Azzurre were able to avoid elimination. There was a lot of tension in the fight for the relay world championship title for a long time.

17. February 2024

From: cst

Individual world champion Lisa Vittozzi & Co. were not among the big favorites before the race, but the Azzurre definitely had outside chances of a medal. In the end, Vittozzi wasn't fighting for precious metal, but solely for survival in the World Relay Championship race. Italy was in danger of being lapped – and that would have meant elimination.

The conditions in Nove Mesto on Saturday were not easy. Strong gusts of wind made it difficult for the athletes to shoot. While things were going fairly well at the beginning of the competition, the final runners were not to be envied. For example, the Norwegian world-class biathlete Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold had to go into the penalty loop three times (!) in the standing position. Even Elvira Öberg, who brought silver to the finish for Sweden, had to run extra meters.

There were difficult conditions at the shooting range. © APA/afp / JOE KLAMAR

For Italy, the medal train had long since left. Rebecca Passler handed over to Lisa Vittozzi in 14th place. The world champion showed her class at the end and was able to lead the team to 11th place. The race had already started disastrously. Samuela Comola had to complete two penalty laps and after that it was clear that there would be no medal. When Dorothea Wierer took over, Italy was in 19th place (out of 21). The Niederrasner woman couldn't make up much time and handed over to Passler in 17th place. All in all, a completely messed up Azzurre World Cup race.

France is turning up the heat with the superstars

In the end, France came out on top in the fight for gold. But the French didn't get through without problems either. Only Justine Braisaz-Bouchet and World Cup superstar Julia Simon (four gold medals) put the lid on it. Before that, Estonia was allowed to dream of a big coup for a while, but in the end the Eastern Europeans had to be content with the “tinny” 4th place. Silver went to Sweden and bronze to Germany.