At the start of the World Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, the German biathlon team was left without the hoped-for medal in the mixed relay after Franziska Preuß received a penalty. Justus Strelow, Philipp Nawrath, Preuß and Vanessa Voigt took fifth place on Wednesday in difficult wind conditions and rain. At the finish, the gap to the superior winner France was 1:30.9 minutes after an extra lap and a total of nine spare rounds. The big favorite and defending champion Norway had to be content with silver, bronze went to Sweden.
The German team is still waiting for its first medal in the mixed doubles since silver in 2019 in Östersund. In 2017 there was the last of a total of three titles. At the Olympic Games, Germany is still without any precious metal in this discipline.
At the World Cup in Oberhof last year, Germany only finished sixth. At that time, Benedikt Doll had missed all chances of winning a medal with one penalty. The 33-year-old was not selected this time because he had a slight cold during preparation and had problems on the shooting range in the last World Cup races.