Paula Botet celebrated a sensational victory. © APA/afp / TOBIAS SCHWARZ

A biathlon race that causes heated discussions

The 2025 biathlon year opened on Thursday with a women's sprint. In adverse conditions, there was a surprise victory, but also some discussions.

09 January 2025

From: det

The biathlon stage in Oberhof is and will remain unpredictable. In the opening race on Thursday, the world's best biathletes encountered the most adverse conditions, with rain causing the track to become completely soggy. In the end, a Frenchwoman managed to create a sensation: Paula Botet, who is actually at home in the IBU Cup and has never finished better than 21st in the World Cup, surprisingly ran to her first victory. The other podium finishers also caused astonishment: Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide came second, Bulgarian Milena Todorova third.

What do these three athletes have in common? Firstly, none of them had ever climbed onto the World Cup podium before. Secondly, they all had relatively low starting numbers (37, 36, 2). This meant that they were able to ski on a "fresher" track, while the top group, which only started towards the end of the competition, found the conditions increasingly difficult.

The podium, from left: Kirkeeide, Botet and Todorova. © APA/afp / TOBIAS SCHWARZ

This is why there was criticism after the competition. The reason for this was a rule change at the start of the season. In order to keep the races exciting for the millions of TV viewers, the best in the World Cup have only been allowed to start in the third starting group for a few weeks now. This is to ensure that the result at the top is not decided too quickly. Previously, the best were always allowed to start right at the start, which is an advantage in bad conditions like in Oberhof. The rain made the trail even softer, making running more difficult.

Wierer strong at the shooting range, with problems on the trail

"I have to honestly say that I don't understand the IBU. If you know that it's raining like hell and it's getting deeper and deeper, why don't you move the starting group? They said they would react when it was possible, but once again they didn't react at all," said Franziska Preuß, who finished the race in 28th place.

Franziska Preuß was fed up after the race. © ANSA / FILIP SINGER

Dorothea Wierer, the only South Tyrolean at the start, also had difficulties. The Niederrasner showed great improvement at the shooting range and hit the bullseye with all ten shots, but she had difficulty getting going on the deep track. In the end, Wierer came 19th, more than a minute and a half behind. The best Azzurra was Michela Carrara in 16th place.

The men's sprint will take place in Oberhof on Friday (from 14.20:12.30 p.m.), before the women are back in action on Saturday from XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. with the pursuit.