Still no snowfall, but at least no more rain: On Thursday, the day of the women's individual race at the Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding, the blue sky even shimmered through the thin cloud cover.

Finally no more cold weather that kept Olympic champion Denise Herrmann-Wick from official training on the track on Tuesday.

Julia Basic

sports editor.

  • Follow I follow

Instead, she used the large treadmill at the Olympic training center next door and trained on it with roller skis.

“The weather was a bit dingy, so you have to be extremely careful.

I used the home field advantage," said the 34-year-old, who lives in Ruhpolding and won't be staying at the team hotel during the World Cup, but at home.

A good self-protection, because the flu and cold wave was raging in the biathletes' camp.

Many had caught it over the holidays.

Anna Weidel, for example, was ill over Christmas and left the first World Cup of the year in Slovenia early.

Vanessa Hinz couldn't compete because she was struggling with symptoms in the upper respiratory tract.

With Franziska Preuss, it is almost no longer a surprise when she announces on social networks that fever and sore throat have caught her again.

The 28-year-old has repeatedly struggled with infections and other health problems.

This time she was out of action for twelve days.

She has been training again since Wednesday, but time is running out until the start of the World Championships in Oberhof at the beginning of February.

Other nations also struggled with absences due to illness: The Norwegian Marte Olsbu Röiseland, for example, three-time Olympic champion in Beijing, was infected with Corona last year and struggled with the consequences for a long time.

She only started the new season after the holidays in Slovenia.

Swede Hanna Öberg, winner of the first individual race of the season, did not report back to the World Cup until Ruhpolding.

She too had been ill over the turn of the year.

“The wave of infections came earlier”

The head doctor of the German Ski Association, Professor Bernd Wolfarth, who works at the Berlin Charité, classified the situation: “The wave of infections came a little earlier than usual this year, it started at the end of November.

In the clinics we currently have more of a staff problem than a patient problem, which is due to the fact that many are sick. ”Sport is not in a bubble, but is right in the middle of the infection process.

Even before the corona pandemic, some athletes came out of the Christmas break sick because they had been in contact with many people over the holidays.

"What we are seeing now is that we not only have corona infections - that's maybe 15 to 20 percent - but the wide range of different infections," said Wolfarth, who is not worried about the situation: "So far we have been spared a few isolated cases remained.

Everyone is back on track and well on the way back to training.

Actually, we have a normal January situation.”

It wasn't enough for the German women to place in the top ten in the individual race.

When the Italian Lisa Vittozzi won, Vanessa Voigt was eleventh as the best German.

She only made one blunder at the shooting range.

The indoor training paid off for Denise Herrmann-Wick in that she once again set the fastest time in the individual race.

However, three shooting errors prevented a better placing than 15th place. She described the conditions on the track as "really great for running".

And the mood also pushed her: "The fans with the flags at the side of the track and the music when entering, that was terrific.

It feels good to race here.”

As a home sleeper, Herrmann-Wick does exactly what ideally prevents illness: keep your distance.

"You will never be able to avoid infections permanently," said Wolfarth.

However, his experience from 30 years as a doctor in the association has shown that banal basic hygiene requirements have always been successful: "I can only repeat like a mantra what the Corona years have taught us: keep your distance, wear a mask, hand disinfection." Athletes are now more concerned with health issues than in the past because the density of competitions and the associated stress have increased.

"As a competitive athlete, you depend on your body functioning perfectly," said Wolfarth.