Olympia 2018: Biathletes lose nothing in the relay at Belarusian victory

The favoured German biathletes were surprisingly empty at the Olympic Winter Games in the relay.

In difficult wind conditions in Pyeongchang, Franziska Preuß (Haag), Denise Herrmann (Oberwiesenthal) and Franziska Hildebrand (Clausthal-Zellerfeld) each made a penalty round. Double Olympic gold medallist Laura Dahlmeier (Partenkirchen/1 reloader) took the quartet to eighth place with a 53.9-second gap to the winner Belarus.

The Belarusian final runner Darja Domratschewa succeeded Kati Wilhelm (3-3-1) as the most successful biathlete at the Olympics with her fourth gold medal (4-1-1-1). Silver went to the Swedish squadron, France won bronze.

Germany had won seven of the last eight races, including the 2017 World Championship title. At the Olympic Games so far, there has only been a gold medal in Nagano in 1998 and in Salt Lake City in 2002. Already four years ago in Sochi the squadron had remained without precious metal, the 11. The third place was the worst result of the Winter Games.

After gold in sprint and pursuit as well as bronze in the singles, Dahlmeier missed her fourth medal in Pyeongchang. She would have been the first biathlete to win four Olympic medals in one event.