Weather chaos with heavy gusts of wind, significant plus temperatures and constant rain dampened the anticipation of the biathlon festival days in Oberhof. Due to the difficult conditions, the men's sprint scheduled for Thursday at the start of the World Cup had to be postponed by one day. Whether the rest of the competition program can be carried out as planned seems questionable in view of the weather forecasts. At least the predicted sub-zero temperatures in the coming days are giving the organizers hope.
"The track is holding up well and is standing," said Heiko Krause, Technical Director of the sports facilities at the Thuringian Winter Sports Centre, on Wednesday. "The large circuit is also still standing, but the postponement is understandable. We will work carefully and make good tactical use of our reserves." He is "cautiously optimistic", said Krause with the big goal of being able to continue to hold all six races in a fair sporting manner.
The organizers had already announced on Tuesday that the staging of the World Cup was not at risk despite the forecast continuous rain. In order to protect the tracks at Grenzadler, adjustments were made to the training. First of all, the organizers will now wait for the forecast downpours before bringing more snow from the depots to the course. The trails in the arena were already covered with snow between the Christmas holidays and New Year's Eve.
