Austria’s women’s biathlon elite did not finish in the top ten at the start of the World Cup weekend in Pokljuka on Thursday.
The two-time winner of the season Lisa Hauser came in as the best ÖSV athlete with one missed shot and 56.3 seconds behind in 13th place. The error-free Dunja Zdouc (24./+1:16.7 min.) and Tamara Steiner (28./+ 1.29.6) and Anna Gandler (26./+1:24.2), who also had a missed shot, also made it into the top 30. Swede Elvira Öberg won.
In her sixth World Cup victory, like the following Julia Simon (FRA/+6.9 sec.) and Dorothea Wierer (ITA/+18.7), she did not miss a shot. Hauser caught it on the first visit to the shooting range, Gandler on the second. Julia Schwaiger narrowly missed qualifying for the pursuit (Saturday, 11:30 a.m.) as 62nd (2/+2:37.0). Hauser, who is still seventh in the overall World Cup, had won gold in the mass start and two other World Championships medals in Pokljuka two years ago and was confident.
The men have their 10 km sprint in the Slovenian ski resort on Friday (2:20 p.m.), the pursuit is on Saturday (2:45 p.m.). On Sunday there will be a single mixed relay (11.45 am) and a mixed relay (2.25 pm, all live ORF 1 or Sport +).
