Strange galaxies are sometimes just a few meters away. The German biathletes could definitely see them in Oberhof: When they packed up their things after the individual races in the biathlon arena on Rennsteig, the best people stood next door at the award ceremony and let themselves be celebrated. The competition was presented with wooden trophies, the mascot, and a few persistent fans cheered them on in the stands. And of course Philipp Nawrath, Johannes Kühn and Co. wanted to be part of this party. But the hosts mostly stood contrite on the sidelines.
You just had to look into Philipp Horn’s eyes after the persecution on Saturday afternoon: his eyes were empty, his heart was heavy. “I’m really down,” said Horn after 45th place and six mistakes at the shooting range. “I look up in the stands and see my family and would love to join in the celebrations. But I’m just disappointed right now.” None of his colleagues could be satisfied with these days; third place in the single mixed relay on Sunday only calmed their spirits to a limited extent. On the podiums in the solo races: French, lots of them, Norwegians, but no Germans. Nobody got past 16th place. The world leaders are currently moving in a different world.
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A year ago Benedikt Doll took the sprint victory in Oberhof, but after his retirement there is a big gap in the German team. Philipp Nawrath, 31, the best German in tenth place overall, was at least able to take away the feeling that his legs were doing what they were supposed to. In the pursuit, he achieved the second best running time behind industry great Johannes Thingnes Bø. But no trophies or prize money are handed out. And anyway, four mistakes at the shooting range are not competitive. The shooting in particular plagued the Germans in Oberhof: 17 mistakes in the sprint, 25 in the pursuit. However, sports director Felix Bitterling did not want to see this as a fundamental problem. His theory: “The problem is between the ears,” he said in front of the ZDF microphone. Too many athletes were nervous in front of the home crowd, but Justus Strelow alone impressed on the shooting range.
Even veterans were impressed by the scenery in Oberhof
Breathing exercises were supposed to help him with the nervousness, revealed Oberhof debutant Simon Kaiser, but on the mat at the shooting range the 25-year-old couldn’t block out the scenery. “Everything becomes quiet behind you, you’re not prepared for that at first,” he said. The typical cheering from the fans at every shot completely threw him off course, “because I was actively listening.” You have to have some experiences just do it in order to learn. But his much more trained colleagues also seemed to be impressed by the audience. “You know you have it in your own hands and you just have to hit the target. “It’s always said so simply,” said Philipp Nawrath, finding peace is still a challenge even after many years. “Perhaps we need to bring back the motto a bit: Nothing has to, everything can.”
There is also little hope for improvement in the youth sector
There is strong competition for starting places in the World Cup in the best nations, but the situation is different for the Germans. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough of the boys who are promoted early to the next series and who put a lot of pressure on,” said Felix Bitterling, so the signs for the future don’t exactly point to any improvement. Even in the IBU Cup, the second division of biathlon, there are three Norwegians at the top; really young German talent is not appearing at the moment. Danilo Riethmüller, who together with Philipp Nawrath secured the German men’s only podium finishes in individual races in the World Cup this winter, has also outgrown the youth age at 25. You won’t find talent like Julia Tannheimer, 19, and Selina Grotian, 20, among men.
And so it happened that the stadium management in Oberhof played French classics to underline the successes of the competition: In the individual races, the French were particularly well represented on the podiums. Sprint winner Paula Botet was followed by Lou Jeanmonnot as the best in the pursuit, and a triple success in the men’s sprint underlined the status of the sporting nation: they can do it with both sexes and have even surpassed the Norwegians. “There’s a lot of pride and satisfaction right now,” said men’s coach Simon Fourcade to broadcaster ZDF. However, the French also had to overcome some dry spells: Quentin Fillon Maillet, who won five Olympic medals in Beijing in 2022, freed himself with the sprint success after almost three years without a win in an individual race.
After the two mixed relays on Sunday, the biathletes will continue in Ruhpolding on Wednesday. Again in front of the home crowd. And that is a sobering conclusion from Oberhof: What should above all spark desire is now much more of a burden for German men.
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