METERwith a medal Franziska Preuss without crowning his sporting redemption. But after her drama in the mixed relay, the best German biathlete gained the confidence she was hoping for with sixth place in the sprint at the World Championships in Nove Mesto for the rest of the title fight. “Everyone wants the medal and then it was one mistake too many. But the way things were the day before yesterday, I'm happy and proud that I didn't get carried away,” the 29-year-old said Friday night.

One year after gold in the World Cup Denise Herrmann-Wick The Bavarian only missed the penultimate of her ten shots. It would not have been enough for her to win her second individual medal at the World Cup after silver in the 2015 mass start without making a mistake. But after Preuß lost a possible medal in the mixed relay (5th) due to a penalty loop, there were also fears that the deeply disappointed ski chaser would suffer a mental breakdown.

“Of course, today the tension was high again, unfortunately I have experienced it differently before. But I have regained confidence in myself,” said a visibly relieved Preuß, who had to miss the World Cup at home last year for health reasons. The day before he had been able to come up with a good strategy. And conversations with coach Sverre Olsbu Röiseland and sports director Felix Bitterling also helped the best German ski hunter, Preuß said.

Second world title already

While the German team is still waiting for its first medal after the second World Cup race, the Grande Nation celebrated a quadruple success for the first time in its World Cup history: Behind Simon, without errors, her teammates Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (1 error/+ 4.9 seconds) and Lou Jeanmonnot (1/+ 40.8 seconds) completed the podium. Sophie Chauveau came fourth.

For Simon, who cried uncontrollably at the end, it was his second world title after his success in mixed doubles. “Today we had a crazy race, especially in the World Cup, wow. “It's really a great moment and a dream,” Simon said. The material in particular seemed to work well for the French in the difficult conditions with significantly positive temperatures and partly soft snow: all four achieved some of the best times.

Things did not go as expected for the other three Germans: Vanessa Voigt (1/+1:42.5 minutes) came 18th, Sophia Schneider (2/+2:04.4) came 28th and Janina Hettich-Walz ( 3rd). /2:14.8) had to settle for 35th place. “It's only the first week of the World Cup and we are doing the best we can and we certainly won't give up yet,” said Voigt.

Preuß, who was the first German to wear the yellow jersey since Dahlmeier in 2017 at the end of the inaugural World Championship in Östersund, now enters Sunday's race 1:05 minutes behind Simon and wants to attack there again: “It's a good position initial. “I want to bother the French women.” Among the men, Benedikt Doll, Philipp Nawrath, Philipp Horn and Johannes Kühn hope to take first place in the first men's individual race of the World Cup on Saturday (5:05 p.m. on ARD and Eurosport). ).