In the dreary Oberhof weather with wind, snow and fog, the German biathletes did not win any podium positions again, but the men performed well four weeks before the first Olympic race.

At the start of the first World Cup in the new year, Johannes Kühn in fourth and Roman Rees in fifth in the sprint on Friday afternoon missed the podium by just a few seconds.

With the women, however, only local hero Vanessa Voigt managed an appealing performance in twelfth place in the empty stadium due to the corona, especially since she was one of only eight athletes with no faults.

The victories at Grenzadler, where perfect conditions had prevailed the day before with sunshine and calm, went to the Russian Alexander Loginow and Marte Olsbu Röiseland from Norway.

You go into the pursuit races on Sunday as the hunted.

The day before, the single mixed (12.15 p.m. / ARD and Eurosport) and the mixed relay (2.45 p.m.) take place.

Strong wind makes athletes "despair"

“Actually, I didn't feel that good. But I'm satisfied with the conditions and the first race after Christmas, ”said Hochfilzen sprint winner Kühn, who compensated for two penalties with the fourth-best time and was only 3.5 seconds short of the podium. The wind was sometimes extreme on the track, said the Bavarian. Rees, who only had one mistake and was just 1.6 seconds behind Kühn, was extremely satisfied: "Every fifth place is great."

It was only possible to run at all thanks to a drop in temperature and the immense work of the organizers.

On Tuesday it still looked like a possible cancellation.

And as so often in the Thuringian Forest, the conditions were adverse.

Only five out of 108 starters were flawless and the wind was sometimes extremely blowing on the track.

"Here you can see the athletes in despair, that's really nice as a spectator," said Lesser, who was 15th but finally achieved the Olympic standard, ironically.

Lesser (33) had to go into the penalty loop three times, twice after standing.

“That would have been a five plus in school.

I'm absolutely unhappy with that, ”said the veteran, who is currently lacking self-confidence.

Lucas Fratzscher came in 22nd, Benedikt Doll in 38th and Philipp Nawrath in 51st.

The women who were missing Franziska Preuss, who was further injured in the foot, had somewhat better conditions later. But only Vanessa Voigt knew how to use on her home routes. “In my head I adjusted myself very well to the race,” said Voigt, who, however, had not felt so comfortable on the difficult trail. But all the more at the shooting range, even with a bit of luck: "There was no wind when I was standing and I knew that I had to hold on to it."

Former world champion Denise Herrmann, on the other hand, caught a gust while lying down and made the first of her three mistakes.

The Saxon struggled all the more with the two more penalty loops.

“It would have been doable in a standing position.

I would also have liked to have been closer in terms of running, but the legs are still missing the kick on the last kilometers, ”said the 33-year-old, who had to forego the mass start in Le Grand-Bornand shortly before Christmas due to an illness and then did not could train.

While Anna Weidel (24) had to end the race early after a fall, Vanessa Hinz (29) crossed the finish line in 25th.

Franziska Hildebrand (34) was 46th, Janina Hettich (25) landed on position 56 after four mistakes.