The Germans knew how to convince © Sportissimus

German double victory at the start in Ridnaun

The IBU Junior Cup 2024/25 opened on Thursday with two individual competitions in Ridnaun. The opening event saw a German victory in both the women's and men's competitions.

12 December 2024

From: pm

When the men's individual competition was given the starting signal at 14.30:38.32,9 p.m., the sun, which had provided great conditions at the Ridnaun Biathlon Center in recent days, had already set. Nevertheless, an exciting competition heated up, in which the German Linus Kesper prevailed in the end. With a time of 21,6 minutes and one miss, he secured a double victory for his country, as a German also won the women's competition in the morning. Kesper beat the Frenchman Ian Martinet by XNUMX seconds with a very strong final lap.

The "Azzurro" Davide Compagnoni also climbed onto the podium, needing 34,4 seconds more than Kesper for the 15 kilometers and four shooting sessions. The fourth-place finisher ensured a festive atmosphere: his name is Felix Ratschiller and he was the only South Tyrolean participant in the home stage in Ridnaun. The Marteller secured an excellent opening position with a strong shooting performance (one mistake) and a 48,5 second deficit to Kesper.

German festival for women

The opening competition of the IBU Junior Cup took place in Ridnaun in the morning. Germany dominated the women's individual event with a double victory. Charlotte Gallbronner showed an outstanding performance on the shooting range and did not make a single mistake. With a time of 38.59,6 minutes, she left her compatriot Alina Nussbicker 25,4 seconds behind. The Ukrainian Iryna Shevchenko (+50,9 seconds) came in third.

On Friday, the official training will take place in Ridnaun, where the athletes can prepare for the two sprint competitions on Saturday and Sunday.