The German cross-country skier Katharina Hennig caused a surprise in Ruka, Finland.
Over ten kilometers in the classic technique, the 25-year-old Oberwiesenthalerin took third place on Saturday and only had to admit defeat to the two star runners Frida Karlsson (Sweden) and Therese Johaug (Norway).
Hennig was only 1.5 seconds short of her favorite discipline on Johaug, who is otherwise so dominant over the long distance.
Teammate Victoria Carl came in eleventh place.
"I'm super happy.
The skis were just great.
But I wouldn't have expected that in my life, ”said Hennig, who sagged exhausted to the ground after crossing the finish line, later on ZDF.
With the cold she got along "very well", explained Hennig at minus 16 degrees in Ruka.
"Nobody in the team expected that," said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder.
Previously, Iivo Niskanen had won the 15-kilometer race in the classic technique for the men.
The best German was Jonas Dobler, who with 15th place fulfilled half the Olympic norm for the Olympic Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th, 2022).
Biatlet Herrmann in third place
Denise Herrmann gave the German biathletes their first podium finish in the Olympic winter at the World Cup opener in Östersund, Sweden. The 32-year-old made only one mistake in the individual over 15 kilometers on Saturday, in the end the Saxon was only 5.3 seconds short of second-placed Austrian Lisa Theresa Hauser, who also received a penalty minute. World champion Marketa Davidova secured the first victory of the new season. In the end, the flawless Czech had a lead of 1: 17.7 minutes on Hauser.
For the first time in front of fans, in Sweden there are no restrictions despite the corona pandemic, Anna Weidel and Vanessa Voigt also waited with great results.
Weidel was the only one in the German team to hit all 20 targets and, as a strong ninth, missed the association's internal norm for Beijing by just 0.9 seconds.
But like Weidel, Voigt (24/1 error), who as the overall IBU Cup winner had a personal right to start, managed half the norm in twelfth.
Herrmann has already secured the Olympic standard.
Katharina Althaus third in ski jumping
The German ski jumpers have also made it to the podium in an individual competition for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
Katharina Althaus took third place on Saturday in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, and only had to admit defeat to the two Slovenians Ema Klinec and Ursa Bogataj after jumps on 91 and 92 meters.
The day before, the 25-year-old old house was still in fifth place.
Pauline Heßler (11th), Selina Freitag (15th) and Anna Rupprecht (19th) also made it into the points.
A long lull in individual competitions ends for the jumping women.
There was no top three placement last winter.
The last podium position dates from January 2020, at that time Althaus took second place in Rasnov, Romania.