Germany’s biathlon crisis: “Not where we want to be”

“As a team, we weren’t where we want and need to be,” said sports director Bernd Eisenbichler: “We want to present ourselves better at our home World Cup.” For the first time since 2015, the Skijäger didn’t make it onto the podium in Oberhof last week done. Things should definitely get better from Wednesday in the second part of the home game in the Thuringian Forest. “We definitely want to present ourselves differently than in the first week of the World Cup,” said Eisenbichler. The gap - especially to the dominant Norwegians - is large shortly before the highlight of the season. While the Scandinavians often claim victories among themselves among both men and women, the Germans are currently fighting to keep up. Women’s national coach Kristian Mehringer was “not satisfied” and “thoughtful” after last weekend. No top ten place in the overall men's World Cup His top athlete Denise Herrmann, who actually wanted to take part in the fight for the overall World Cup, is struggling with her shooting performance and is not as dominant on the cross-country ski trail as in the past. In the overall ranking she is eleventh, Franziska Preuß in seventh is the only one in the top ten. Among the men, Benedikt Doll is best placed in eleventh place. >>>A preview of the 2nd Oberhof week can be found here But what does that mean with a view to the World Cup from February 10th to 21st in Pokljuka, Slovenia? Head national coach Mark Kirchner always focuses his planning entirely on the World Cup. Then his athletes should be in the best condition. This brought five medals at last year's World Cup in Antholz, seven each at the 2019 World Cup and the 2018 Olympics, and even eight at the 2017 title fights in Hochfilzen, dominated by Laura Dahlmeier. That's another reason why nobody gets nervous; weak phases are not unusual in a long season. The races still remain until Sunday in Oberhof and the subsequent World Cup dress rehearsal in Antholz, Italy. “We should now look forward, work our way forward step by step,” said Mehringer. After all, despite the slight false start to 2021, not everything is bad. “Some showed very good performances, for example at the shooting range. We still have to improve a bit when it comes to running,” said the women’s coach. And what's more: The season started well in November with a few podium finishes, even if things didn't continue consistently after that. Schempp can't get up to speed Before Herrmann's women compete on Thursday, the competition week begins in Oberhof, which is sealed off due to the Corona crisis, on Wednesday (14.30 p.m.) with the men's sprint over ten kilometers. Former world champion Simon Schempp is no longer there. The former German number one and long-time relay runner lost his starting position again after two weak races and is unlikely to have any more chances at the World Cup. According to Mehringer, “attack again” is the motto on the Rennsteig. The sprints will be followed by relays and mass starts on the 2023 World Championship courses. The fact that the ski hunters are staying in Thuringia for two weeks this year and that it is not about victories in Ruhpolding as usual is due to the corona pandemic. The IBU world association had decided on a double event without spectators. Sports director Eisenbichler also recently admitted that There is a need to catch up when it comes to promoting young talent in German biathlon. Accordingly, young athletes are not brought up to the top quickly enough. The top German athletes such as Arnd Peiffer, Benedikt Doll and Erik Lesser are all over 30, the youngest in the men's team are Philipp Horn and Lucas Fratzscher, each 26 years old. The situation is not much different for women.

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Germany’s biathlon crisis: “Not where we want to be”

A month before the start of the World Championships, the pressure on the weakening German biathletes is increasing.

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