2024-02-13 17:49:35
Lea Rothschopf completed her debut on the big biathlon world stage on Tuesday as 37th in the individual race at the World Championships in Nove Mesto (CZE).
The 22-year-old Kuchler had a total of three missed shots, two of them in the last standing stage, in the cauldron with 25,000 loud fans in the stadium. At the finish she was 5:09 minutes behind winner Lisa Vittozzi (ITA).
Rothschopf said: “I’m happy that I was able to experience that. I was focused and in the tunnel and tried to block out everything around me as much as possible. It’s a shame that I missed two in the end. Two are one over a lot. I now know where I stand and am very motivated for what’s to come. I’m also happy with my running, I was even able to keep up with Franziska Preuß in the first lap.” The World Cup nomination came as a surprise to the Salzburg native. A third place in the IBU Cup Sprint on Arber opened the door for last year’s Junior European Champion. She now got her chance in the World Cup singles, without having even competed once in the World Cup before.
With one less mistake, Rothschopf might have become the best Austrian. Anna Gandler was doing well for a long time, one mistake in the standing position cost the Tyrolean a top ten place. She was happy with 19th place: “You can tell it was the fourth race here. I had a hard time standing. It was a tough race. It’s very pleasing that the mass start is now 100 percent fixed for me.” Only the top 30 in the world start in the final competition on Sunday.
The recently ailing former world champion Lisa Hauser is approaching her normal form, she ended up in 22nd place with two mistakes. The Styrian Tamara Steiner missed the target three times and came in 49th place.
Gold went to Lisa Vittozzi (ITA). Thanks to a flawless shooting performance, the 29-year-old won her first individual world championship title. The Frenchwoman Julia Simon, who has dominated the World Cup so far, missed once and this time took bronze.
The German biathletes reported back strongly. Janina Hettich-Walz with silver, Selina Grotian in fourth and Vanessa Voigt in fifth remained faultless throughout.
The men will run their individual 20 kilometer race on Wednesday. Simon Eder, David Komatz, Felix Leitner and Magnus Oberhauser are at the start for Austria.
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