Biathlete Franziska Hildebrand missed her third World Cup victory at the World Cup in Kontiolahti by only half a second. In the first race after the Olympic Winter Games, the 30-year-old from Clausthal-Zellerfeld in the sprint of Kontiolahti was beaten by four-time Olympic champion Darja Domratschewa (Belarus, 1 penalty round) with no shooting mistakes.
Franziska Hildebrand bit her teeth and tried to hide the strains of the last weeks – but in the end there was still a miserable half second missing. In the first race after the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang she only narrowly missed her third World Cup victory.
“I don’t know exactly whether to laugh or cry. The 0.5 already hurts a bit,”Hildebrand said on ZDF television, but had a broad smile on his face:”I gave everything, but unfortunately it was barely enough. But I’m pleased.”
Thus, she also stole double Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier from the show when she returned to everyday life in the World Cup. The seven-time world champion has been struggling despite health problems in the past few days and remained exhausted in the snow at the finish line. In the end, the Partenkirchen rider finished fifth, with Lisa Vittozzi, who finished third, missing 13.9 seconds.
“It was very exhausting, the Olympic Games didn’t pass me completely without a trace,”said Dahlmeier, who had to fight with a “slight sore throat” in the end:”I died on the last lap, I spent a lot of time and I noticed this clearly at the finish line”.
Hildebrand had previously shown a very strong performance and had twice remained faultless at the shooting range. When the tenth of ten disks fell, the relay world champion went to the final round with a 16.4-second lead over Vittozzi, but the efforts of the last few weeks made themselves felt there. The lead melted quickly, 700 meters before the finish line there were only 8.2 seconds left on Domratschewa. And even those were too few in the end.
For Dahlmeier, however, the race got off to a very bad start. The first shot at the reclining attack just passed the finish line on the right, with a gap of 29 seconds to Domratschewa, it was the second lap. However, the athlete of the year once again proved her mental strength with a flawless standing shootout and kept her hopes for the podium alive. Despite the slight health restrictions, Dahlmeier struggled for the sixth best runtime.
On Saturday, biathletes will have the chance to forget the bankruptcy of Pyeongchang in the mixed relay (16.45 hrs.). At the Winter Olympics, Dahlmeier and Co. only sheet metal remained despite the fact that he was fourth. Prior to this, the non-Olympic single-mixed relay is scheduled (13.40 hrs) – but Dahlmeier will probably not participate in both races.
“I would be happy if I could rest tomorrow,”said the 24-year-old after the sprint. Her full concentration should be on Sunday, when the two mass starts (starting at 1.30 pm/all ZDF and Eurosport) will conclude the World Cup in Finland.