“It’s not cross-country skiing, it’s biathlon”

The first competition in Antholz is over. The Azzurri showed their strength in the shortened individual competition on Thursday, but in the end Tommaso Giacomel and especially Lukas Hofer struggled with their performances on the shooting range. Afterwards, both spoke plainly.

18 January 2024

From the South Tyrol Arena in Antholz

From:
David Lechthaler

Especially Tommaso Giacomel (8th) was upset in the mixed zone: “I'm pretty angry today. I took the podium at the last shooting. I felt extremely good when it came to running. The skis were fast too,” explained Giacomel SportNews in a perfect South Tyrolean dialect. As is well known, the Trentino native attended the sports high school in Mals and was born in Vipiteno. His ties to South Tyrol have always been close.

Giacomel aims high. You notice that. The 23-year-old is no longer satisfied with top ten places. “My form has been good for weeks. Basically, I don't cope well with the conditions here in Antholz. But things went well here last year too. “I don’t like Antholz that much, but Antholz still seems to like me,” explained Giacomel, who had to smile a little.

Tommaso Giacomel struggled with the last shooting. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

Giacomel was able to gain little from the new individual format (15 km and 45 penalty seconds per missed shot). “I don’t think that’s good at all. Biathlon was created through individual competition and we should leave this format in its original form.”

“I don’t like Antholz that much, but Antholz still seems to like me.” Tommaso Giacomel

Lukas hofer (65.) Giacomel agreed: “I don’t like the new format because I would prefer a longer round. The 4 km loop is simply bearable here in Antholz.” It is not yet clear whether he will take part in one of the two relays on Saturday: “Let’s see if I do another race or prepare for the World Championships straight away.” .

Lukas Hofer shot 8 errors. Even the third-best running time doesn't help. © ANSA / ANDREA SOLERO

Hofer understandably didn't agree with his competition on Thursday. “There's not much to say today. The race went the way it did. We don't do cross-country skiing, we do biathlon. I still don't know why I made so many mistakes. I turned the diopter back and forth.” Hofer was also one of the best on the track. In the end, the third running time speaks volumes. “I felt good as a runner - even though I was very upset in the last lap and almost lost interest because of my anger. I think that’s understandable on a day like this,” said the 34-year-old.

Only Brauhofer is satisfied

Patrick Braunhofer (36th), however, was almost surprised by his performance: “I have seen that the form curve has increased extremely since Oberhof. But I didn't expect this performance and I'm very happy with how it turned out." The man from Ridnaun has always been known as a good shooter. The fact that Braunhofer made it into the points with 3 errors is by no means a given.

Patrick Braunhofer largely kept his perspective in the fog. © Nordic Focus

“I'm a little annoyed by the first standing stage, in which I made two mistakes. At this point I was struggling with the fog. That was a little bad luck. But if you miss the target at the shooting range, it’s always the shooter’s mistake,” said the 1-year-old. Who knows what Braunhofer would have had otherwise. He doesn't yet know whether Braunhofer will take part in a relay race on Saturday. The Wipptaler lets everything happen to him. But you could tell he was happy about his form.

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