From a German perspective, there was nothing to be gained from the sprint in sunny Soldier Hollow late on Saturday evening (March 9th, 2024). The biathletes from France made headlines. While Eric Perrot was laughing with the sun, Quentin Fillon-Maillet was having a nightmare. The Norwegians, who are used to success, didn’t have a great day either.
Normally the podium in the World Cup is a Norwegian affair. The only exception: the sprint. The ten kilometer route is not exactly the best for the Scandinavians.
The French celebrated a double victory on the 2002 Olympic courses. Eric Perrot won completely surprisingly after a flawless performance at the shooting range in 22:19.8 minutes ahead of Norwegian newcomer Johan-Olav Botn. The youngster finished third in his third World Cup race with start number 98 (0 errors/+11.3 s) and pushed his compatriot Sturla Holm Laegreid off the podium.
Kühn best German
The Germans were right in the middle, but not at the forefront. The best of the seven DSV ski hunters who started was Johannes Kühn in tenth place (1 error/+33.4 s), who was satisfied with his race but struggled with the “heat”. “This is not my weather,” he said in the Sportschau interview. Philipp Horn (1 mistake) and Justus Strelow (0 mistakes) also still have good cards for their pursuers on Sunday. Both start 45 seconds and 57 seconds behind sprint winner Perrot.
Strelow was the only German to get through without making any mistakes, but he had major problems on the track and was only a second faster than Johannes Thingnes Bö, who had to turn into the penalty loop four times. The dominator is still in the lead in the overall World Cup despite the sprint weakness.
Doll loses ground in battle for sprint crown
Benedikt Doll still had the small ball of the best sprinter in his sights. In his penultimate sprint race, the veteran, who will end his career next weekend, lost ground. While Doll had no chance with three penalties and was 1:29.8 minutes slower than the day’s best, his competitor for the sprint crown, Tarjei Bö, collected significantly more World Cup points in sixth place. “It wasn’t such good shots. I felt wobbly lying down,” said Doll, who finished the race in 27th place.
Philipp Nawrath (25th / 2 errors / + 1:25.5 minutes), second best sprinter from the DSV team, also left a lot behind and will start four seconds ahead of Doll on Sunday. Newcomer Danilo Riethmüller, who started the race last, made it into the select field of the best 60 with one mistake as a strong 23rd (+ 1:17.2 min).
Fillon-Maillet vergisst Strafrunde
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic champion Fillon-Maillet experienced a fiasco when he made a fatal mistake in the 10-kilometer race. Fillon-Maillet forgot to turn into the penalty loop after the standing stage and was given a time penalty. That meant he was out of the race for the podium and served accordingly.
While Fillon-Maillet will still take part in the chase, Roman Rees will miss it. With three penalties, Rees didn’t make it into the top 60.