Germany's best biathlete Laura Dahlmeier has confirmed her strong form at the World Cup sprint in Antholz with fourth place and only 0.7 seconds to the podium. At the finish Dahlmeier collapsed, had to be medically supervised and accompanied by team doctor Klaus Marquardt into the cabin. "The last few meters were brutal, I almost turned into the VIP tent and would not have made it to the finish," said Dahlmeier and said she was "staggered like a drunk".
Women's national coach Kristian Mehringer was worried about his star athlete. "At the shooting range, Laura did a clean job, but it's not good for us as a coach," Mehringer said. Dahlmeier had exhausted himself completely on the final section. After regaining her strength, she said, "I tried to save Körner on the second lap, but the tactic worked out well, but the finish line would have liked to come a little earlier, overall it was a great race."
Dahlmeier has a long suffering time behind him. Because of health problems and a weakened immune system, the double Olympic champion of Pyeongchang had to pause for weeks and missed the start of the season. At her first World Cup race this winter at the end of December she finished in second place in the sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, but then took another forced break.
The aim of the 25-year-olds is to be in top condition in just over six weeks when the Biathlon World Cup begins. The highlight of the season will be held from 7 to 17 March in Östersund, Sweden.
The sprint race in Antholz won the Czech Marketa Davidova, who celebrated her first World Cup victory. Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen finished second and Norwegian Marte Olsbu Roiseland finished third, just ahead of Dahlmeier. The leader in the overall World Cup, Dorothea Wierer from Italy, was eighth. Denise Hermann had to settle for the second best German starter with 14th place after three penalties.