“Azzurre” with an embarrassing performance – only Vittozzi is good

The heavy snowfall alone should not explain the biathlon women's azure debacle. In Oberhof in Germany, the “Azzurre” with Lisa Vittozzi, Nicole Gontier and the two South Tyroleans Federica Sanfilippo and Alexia Runggaldier, who started as co-favorites, took 15th place, 6.22 minutes behind the victorious Russians. The “Azzurre” had a total of 13 spare rounds and had to go into the penalty loop eight times. Nicole Gontier even managed to leave all five targets standing with eight missed shots.

Vittozzi hands over as leader But first things first: Lisa Vittozzi, who was recently strong, was the starting runner in the four by six kilometer race. The 23-year-old from Sappada/Plodn, who won both the sprint and the pursuit in Oberhof, demonstrated her extremely strong form, remained clean in the first prone stage and took the lead. The “Azzurra” also knew how to impress on the cross-country ski trail, was able to extend its lead and was the first to go into standing shooting.

In the most difficult conditions, Vittozzi had to reload twice but remained ahead. In the cross-country ski run she didn't let herself be taken away from the lead and handed over the lead to her teammate Nicole Gontier. Gontier with a miss festival Gontier was able to keep the lead in the cross-country ski run, but then had three spare rounds in the first prone stage and fell back to seventh place after one penalty. The “Azzurre” thus left the fight for the top spots early.

Heavy snowfall and difficult conditions in Oberhof. © APA/afp / ROBERT MICHAEL

Then the second standing stage: a completely unsettled Gontier missed eight times, so she didn't hit a target despite three spare rounds and had to run five penalty laps. Botched change But that wasn't enough: What followed was a completely botched handover from Gontier to Alexia Runggaldier. Because the woman from Val Gardena was obviously not prepared for the handover. Runggaldier then ran a lonely race and showed an acceptable performance at the shooting range. After two spare rounds in the prone stage, the Val Gardena native made no mistakes in the standing stage.

In 15th place, Runggaldier handed over to Federica Sanfilippo from Ridnaun. Although she made no mistakes in the prone stage, she needed three spare rounds in the standing stage and had to run two penalty loops. Wierer is missing from the debacle The disaster ended with 15th place for “Azzurre”, who started as co-favorites. The “Azzurre” ultimately trailed the victorious Russians by 6.22 minutes. Russia won in 1:18.46,3 hours ahead of Germany (+33,5) and the Czech Republic (+36,7). The Norwegians narrowly missed the podium with fourth place.

Dorothea Wierer did not take part in the relay. After intense weeks and many training sessions, she decided to take a break. Women's relay in Oberhof Pos Country Time Reloader 1. Russia 1: 18.46,3 h 8 (0 penalties) 2. Germany +33,5 sec 10 (2) 3. Czechia +36,7 6 (1) 4. Norway +50,6 9 (0) 5. France +1.08,4 15 (3) 15. Italy +6.22,0 13 (8)

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“Azzurre” with an embarrassing performance – only Vittozzi is good

What was happening? The women's relay team of the Italian national biathlon team suffered a debacle in Oberhof on Sunday. After a festival of missed shots including a botched substitution, the “Azzurre” ended up in 15th place.

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