What a start: the mixed relay takes silver!

It was already clear in advance that Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer and Dominik Windisch were among the hottest medal candidates. After all, in this constellation they already won the bronze medal at the World Cup last year and at the 2018 Olympic Games. But a home World Cup is always something different, the pressure is much greater. The fact that Hofer & Co. delivered so coolly in front of an impressive backdrop was fantastic.

The 3 successful seasons Italy, Norway and the Czech Republic – a colorful mix. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

With the silver medal, Wierer, Hofer, Windisch and Vittozzi not only made the Südtirol Arena with its 20.000 fans in Antholz tremble, but also made history. This was Italy's - and therefore South Tyrol's - first ever World Cup medal at a home World Cup in Antholz. In the previous 4 intercontinental title fights in the Pustertal, the Italian men's relay team finished fourth twice (1995 and 2007), narrowly missing out on a top 3 placement. Vittozzi and Wierer bring Azzurri into position A medal for the Azzurri appeared early on Thursday. Lisa Vittozzi did an almost perfect job as the starting runner, only had to reload twice and handed over to Dorothea Wierer almost at the same time as Norway. The racer also missed twice, but kept her team on track and sent Lukas Hofer into the race in third position (behind Norway and the Czech Republic).

The Montaler was in exhilarating form, didn't make a single mistake, overtook the Czech Ondrej Moravec and didn't let himself be left behind by the Norwegian Tarjei Bø. The result? Final runner Dominik Windisch went into the last two laps together with World Cup dominator Johannes Thingnes Bø. The last shooting decides The two ski hunters fought a thrilling battle for victory, which was decided at the last shooting: Both Windisch and Bø had to reload twice. However, because Bø shot faster, he went into the last lap almost 2 seconds ahead of Windisch and thus took the win. But: The Azzurri's celebration was huge after the successful start.

It continues in Antholz on Friday with the women's sprint (14.45 p.m.). World Cup in Antholz: The mixed relay Pos Country Time Penalties + spares 1. Norway 1:02.27,7 hours 0 + 7 2. Italy +15,6 seconds 0 + 6 3. Czechia +30,8 0 + 2 4. Germany +49,2 1 + 11 5. Ukraine +56,1 1 + 7 6. Russia +59,4 0 + 8 7. France +1.08,6 minutes 1 + 9 8. Austria +1.39,2 1 + 7 9. Finland +1.39,5 0 + 10 10. Switzerland +1.50,5 2 + 14

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What a start: the mixed relay takes silver!

What a start to the home World Cup! The mixed relay team led by Dorothea Wierer won the silver medal at the start in Antholz - and thus made history on the first day.

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