A strong half is not enough

At the front there are two world-class athletes, Wierer and Lisa Vittozzi – who is currently not in top form – while behind them are decent, but by no means top biathletes, Gontier and Federica Sanfilippo. This was also clear in Hochfilzen, because despite the Azzurre leading at half time, they only ended up in 11th place.

Sanfilippo makes mistakes too often Starting runner Vittozzi shot poorly (she needed all three spares in the standing position), but did well on the cross-country ski trail and handed over to Wierer in second place behind Russia. The South Tyrolean underlined after that Sprint success on Friday their top form. Although Wierer didn't make any mistakes either (two spares), she handed over to Gontier with a narrow lead.

The 28-year-old from the Aosta Valley showed a good performance, remained flawless while lying down, but only barely avoided the penalty loop in the standing position - in contrast to Sanfilippo. The woman from Ridnaun had to do two extra laps. And so the women's relay team missed a great chance of another podium place because the competition showed nerves. Norway outstanding, debacle for Germany Lena Häcki, who seemed to be in a safe third place with Switzerland, had to go into the penalty loop in the last shooting. That gave Ukraine and Canada a chance at the podium. In the end, Häcki still had the longest breath – the second podium place for the Swiss in a row. The victory went to Norway. Despite one penalty, the Scandinavians were in a class of their own, especially Marte Olsbu Roiseland showed a phenomenal final lap and left Russia (strong shooting result, only five spare rounds) behind. Denise Herrmann experienced a pitch-black day in Hochfilzen: she had to go into the penalty loop three times. © AP / Kerstin Joensson

The German women experienced another debacle. Incredible shooting errors ensured that the DSV relay team did not make it into the top ten. A historic result, because a German women's team has never been so bad in the World Cup. Only at the Olympics in Sochi was there a similar debacle. Women's relay: result from Hochfilzen Pos Country Time Error 1. Norway 1.10.04,7h 1 + 7 2. Russia +8,2 seconds 0 + 5 3. Switzerland +1,04,1 1 + 9 4. Ukraine +1.09,2 0 + 8 5. Canada +1.09,3 0 + 7 11. Italy +2.57,1 2 + 15

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A strong half is not enough

When Dorothea Wierer handed over to Nicole Gontier at half-time, the Italian relay team in Hochfilzen in North Tyrol was still in the lead. But the Azzurre relay team is a two-tier company. In the end it wasn't even enough for the top ten.

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