After the German biathletes had major problems at the shooting range in the pursuit race in Oberhof, former world champion Benedikt Doll goes in search of clues. "The Norwegians are a bit stronger in this duel shooting. We try to keep up with them, but sometimes it's difficult. We trained a lot in the summer to become cleverer in direct combat. But we don't always manage that yet," said the 33-year-old, who started first on Saturday after his sprint victory the day before, but then dropped back to twelfth place.
Only Roman Rees, who moved up from 19th to 14th place, and Philipp Horn, who improved eleven positions and finished 13th, improved from a German perspective in the chase race. Johannes Kühn (8th), Justus Strelow (16th) and Philipp Nawrath (22nd) dropped back. This has happened more often this season.
Doll and his colleagues want to do better again in the relay on Sunday (11.30 a.m./ARD). "I think we're there in terms of skiing. We have to get by with few reloads at the shooting range, then we can fight at the front," he said. Team colleague Kühn added: "The goal is always the podium. If we all do a good job and have that little bit of luck, then maybe we won't just finish third." The German quartet finished third both in Östersund at the start and in Hochfilzen.
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