Biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick wins in Oslo

Oslo

Denise Hermann-Wicke sheds tears of joy after winning the last sprint of her career. “It’s very emotional now,” said the world champion after her 11th World Cup victory in Oslo.

With a festive performance without shooting errors, the 34-year-old secured the little crystal ball in the Sprint World Cup for the second time and also hit the final goal of her successful career one day before announcing her retirement.

“It’s pure fun really,” said Saxon at the end of a perfect day, as she managed to pull off her second-best time. Friends and family encouraged them in droves to Holmenkollen in perfect weather. “I am very proud and happy that we can enjoy a day like this,” said Hermann Wieck. Behind her, the Swedish Hannah Oberg (0 penalties) finished second, 3.5 seconds behind, while the French Julia Simon (1) ranked third in the Norwegian capital.

The race did not take place on Friday due to heavy fog and was postponed by one day. Chaser originally planned for Saturday was removed from the programme.

The last race will be emotional

Hermann Weik announced the end of its run on Tuesday, Sunday (3:10 p.m. / .ARD and Eurosport), the former cross-country skier will be there for the last time in the mass start. “It’s a crazy feeling,” Hermann-Wicke said of the final moments of her career on ARD. “You can only imagine it the way it is. I don’t even want to imagine a Sunday like that.”

Anyway, he gets emotional again. “It could well happen,” she replied when asked if some tears might flow at the end.

It had already happened the day before, the two-time world champion was very overwhelmed after once again enduring all the pressure. Hermann Wieck said, “I tried to do the best race I could. I succeeded. You know this is the last sprint. I’m glad I keep my nerves in check in the competition.”

Second best German was the flawless Janina Hettich-Walls in 8th, and Hanna Kippinger (1) also rounded out the top 20 in 17th. Vanessa Voigt (0) fell short of expectations in 41st, followed by first-timers in the world Cup. Selina Grotian (2/44) and Lisa Maria Spark (0/53). It was very disappointing for Anna Weidel (3), who finished 82nd.

France’s Simon wins the World Cup overall

In the penultimate race of the winter, Frenchwoman Julia Simon secured victory in the World Cup as a whole for the first time. Fifth place in the sprint was enough for the 26-year-old world champion to grab the big crystal ball before the final mass start.

Simone is the first French woman to win the general classification since Sandrine Bailly in the 2004/05 season. She succeeds Norway’s Mart Olsbo Rosland, who won the title last season. The last German overall winner was Laura Dallmeier in the winter of 2016/17.

Benedict Doll is in fourth place

In the men’s race, Benedikt Doll had previously finished fourth. Two days after his third-place finish in the race, two penalties prevented the 32-year-old from reaching the podium again. In the end, the Black Forest rider was 55.3 seconds behind the runner-up, Johannes Thingnes Bo of Norway.

The second place came to the flawless French player Quentin Vionne Mayet, ahead of the Norwegian Sturla Holm Laegrid (one penalty kick). Doll was just six seconds away from third.

The next best German was Philipp Norath (2) in 14th, followed by Roman Reis (2) in 20th, Lukas Fratzcher (3) in 21st and Philip Horn (6) in 52nd with a very poor performance.

Justus Strehlow was out for a short period due to a cervical spine blockage. It was not initially clear if the 26-year-old from Saxony would be able to make a mass start again on Sunday.