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Oberhof (dpa) - The narrowly lost sprint to the finish could not spoil Franziska Preuss' mood.

«I tried everything I could, but I was so exhausted.

Still, I'm really happy about second place, ”said the biathlete after her second coup at the home World Cup in Oberhof.

The day before, the 26-year-old had led the German women's relay as the final runner to the first team triumph in almost two years, on Sunday the mass start was just 3.9 seconds short of the second individual success of her career.

"It was still nice, even if it was really hard," said Preuss, who had to admit defeat to the French Julia Simon over the last few meters.

After too many races with bitter setbacks and repeated top results, the two top positions give the ski hunters the boost they have been waiting for just in time - because the world championship begins in Pokljuka / Slovenia in just over three weeks.

"We hope that we will take a lot of euphoria, motivation and energy with us for the near future," said former world champion Denise Herrmann after the euphoric team victory.

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“Being at the forefront of the relay is very important for the team.

That is our big goal, to also fight at the World Cup, "said 32-year-old Saxon Herrmann:" We have now shown that we are in a good mood.

We don't need to hide there. "

For years the women's relay was once a German domain, but the world's top has long been much closer together, every race is fiercely competitive.

For the first time since February 2019 in Canmore, Canada, the quartet of the German Ski Association with Vanessa Hinz, Janina Hettich, Herrmann and Preuss had won another season.

Before Belarus and Sweden, the vice-world champion showed a faultless performance.

“Each of us really soaks up that.

We'll see that we can take the momentum with us, "said Preuss:" It's really so good for the whole team that everything just went well. "

The former relay world champion proved again a day later that this was not a coincidence for her personally.

Preuss had already taken the lead in the mass start after the last shooting, but after two shooting errors it wasn't enough for the front.

In return, she kept third-placed Olympic champion Hanna Öberg behind her as well as the rest of the field.

The second best German on the 2023 World Cup routes in the Thuringian Forest was Herrmann (4 mistakes) in 15th, Janina Hettich (2) in 18th and Maren Hammerschmidt (4) in 29th.

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The men's relay had previously only finished fifth because Philipp Horn made three penalties as the final runner and still forgave the possible victory.

It was too much for his team-mate Erik Lesser that the 26-year-old was attacked by fans.

«That is absolutely out of place.

The national coaches can really save that on the couch at home, ”said the ex-world champion on ARD.

The fact that the 32-year-old was eighth best German in the final mass start with a shooting error was a minor matter.

Lesser couldn't understand “what I had to read about Philipp Horn on the social networks on Friday and Saturday”.

Lesser stressed that he simply “didn't deserve it”.

There is no reason whatsoever to doubt the performance of the final runner from Thuringia.

"We'll put him back on the four anyway - because he's just a great guy," said Lesser.

The two-time Olympic runner-up showed increasing form on his home routes and even had podium opportunities in the mass start.

In the lead, he fell back with one mistake after the last shooting, while the Norwegian Tarjei Bö won ahead of the Austrian Felix Leitner and the Swiss Benjamin Weger.

Olympic champion Arnd Peiffer, who won the mass start in Hochfilzen in December, was eleventh, Benedikt Doll had to be content with 17th place.

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210117-99-61230 / 3

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