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Final runner Sophia Schneider

Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa

The German biathletes won bronze in the relay at the World Championships in Nove Mesto, securing the German team their third medal. Despite the short-term absence of the ill final runner Franziska Preuß, Janina Hettich-Walz, World Cup debutant Selina Grotian, Vanessa Voigt and the late nominee Sophia Schneider celebrated this success on Saturday, somewhat surprisingly.

A year after taking silver at the home World Championships in Oberhof, the DSV quartet had nine spares and were only beaten by France and Sweden. At the finish the gap was 1:14.2 minutes. Silver was enough at the previous three World Championships, and fourth place in Östersund in 2019.

Female runners complain about slow skis

Two and a half hours before the start of the race, the German Ski Association informed about Preuß' failure. It remains to be seen whether the 29-year-old, who is suffering from a “new sore throat,” will be able to compete in the mass start on Sunday (2:15 p.m. / TV: ZDF and Eurosport). »Losing Franzi always hurts us. Everyone knows the value and knows how good she can be," said sports director Felix Bitterling before the start of the race on ZDF.

Schneider stepped in and led the team from fifth to third place after individual runner-up Hettich-Walz in particular had problems on the cross-country ski trail. “For me it was a combination of everything,” said the starting runner. »There were places where it was salty. I really struggled with my skis and then I didn't have the best day either. I have no words right now.”

The other runners also had to struggle with the material again, as 19-year-old Grotian confirmed on ZDF. “It was extremely difficult on the route,” she said: “Once I was doing well on the descent, then I was brutally overtaken by the Belgian. There were sections of the route where it was extremely sticky. During the World Championships so far, the DSV athletes had repeatedly had problems with their skis. The fact that it was still enough to win bronze on Saturday was mainly thanks to Schneider's strong nerves.

kjo/dpa