Party crasher Preuss
At the biathlon weekend in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, the team from the German Ski Association (DSV) is the French party crasher. On Friday, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet was just ahead of the Ruhpolding native in the sprint Franziska Preuss won, then the women’s races became part of the German festival. Preuß won the pursuit (Vanessa Voigt came third) before Selina Grotian, 20, achieved her first World Cup victory (just ahead of Preuß) in the mass start on Sunday. Annecy-Le Grand Bornand will be remembered by the DSV entourage as one of the most successful World Cup stations in history. For the men, Danilo Riethmüller achieved his best World Cup result with second place in the mass start (behind the Norwegian Tarjei Bö), while the DSV men achieved six top-eight placements in three races. koei
Changing wind
When the winning streak was broken, it remained Pius Paschke calm. “I did eight very good ones out of nine competitions, today it just wasn’t ideal,” said the ski jumping high-flyer after finishing tenth on Saturday in Engelberg. Shortly before the Four Hills Tournament, it was the weakest result for the five-time winner of the season. While the Austrians Jan Hörl and Daniel Tschofenig celebrated a double victory ahead of the Swiss local hero Gregor Deschwanden, Andreas Wellinger in fourth and Karl Geiger in fifth were the best DSV Eagles. “I’m not surprised, even Pius can’t always win,” said national coach Stefan Horngacher. The frequently changing wind caused the field to be “a bit mixed up,” said Horngacher. The second competition was scheduled to take place on Sunday evening. The best German on Sunday evening was Karl Geiger in ninth place. Wellinger came 15th, Paschke ended up in 18th place in Austria’s triple victory (Tschofenig ahead of Hörl and Stefan Kraft). SID
Yellow arrow
The five-time bobsleigh world champion Johannes Lochner won the second two-man race from Sigulda and fought back in the German duel with Francesco Friedrich. After two almost error-free runs, Lochner from Stuttgart and his pusher Jörn Wenzel won in the lightning-fast yellow bobsleigh with a lead of 0.21 seconds over Briton Brad Hall. Third place was enough for Friedrich (Oberbärenburg/+0.30) and Alexander Schüller (Halle). “Finally won again, so we can still do it,” said Lochner: “Above all, I’m happy with the rides. Now it’s time to come home, be a dad and rest your legs.” Friedrich argued. “There were a lot of things wrong in the first run, which continued in the second,” said the 34-year-old: “We are on track, the others were simply better today.” SID
First violinist
Vincent Geiger celebrated his third victory of the season in the Nordic combined. The Olympic champion from Oberstdorf beat Finn Ilkka Herola in the decisive cross-country skiing race over ten kilometers with an attack shortly before the end. Julian Schmid in third place was the second German to make it onto the podium. Geiger, who came second, and Schmid, who came third, shortened their gap to Jarl Magnus Riiber, who was leading the overall World Cup, and the Norwegian came sixth. In the women’s category, Nathalie Armbruster took second place; the 18-year-old was only beaten by the Norwegian Ida Marie Hagen. After jumping from the normal chance and five kilometers of cross-country skiing, Cindy Haasch came in fourth, almost ten seconds behind third-placed Gyda Westvold Hansen from Norway. DPA
Dominant duo
Faster than Daniela Maier28, no one is currently racing down the slopes in ski cross: she won two races in Innichen at the weekend. One day after her first win of the season in South Tyrol, she captured the yellow jersey of the leaders in the overall World Cup on Saturday. “It’s so crazy,” said Maier, the Olympic bronze medalist in Beijing, after her victory ahead of Jole Galli from Italy, saying she was “proud and happy.” She was already second and third fastest at the start of the winter in Val Thorens in France. In the men’s race, Florian Wilmsmann, 28, from Hartpenning recorded a victory, then the following day, while in the lead, he fell in the semi-finals and thus missed out on the final round. In the small final he secured fifth place – and so two Germans are currently racing over white slopes in yellow in ski cross. SID
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