Biathlon Olympic champion Denise Herrmann-Wick finished fifth in the pursuit two days after her first win of the season in Hochfilzen, Austria.
The 33-year-old made three penalties in Tyrol and finished 42.7 seconds behind the victorious Frenchwoman Julia Simon (1 penalty). Second place went to Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (1) from Norway ahead of the Czech Marketa Davidova (2). The second best German was Vanessa Voigt (1) as 14th, directly ahead of Anna Weidel (2), who was 15th after ten kilometers.
“With three mistakes, that’s one or two too many. I had a hard time on the track today,” said Herrmann-Wick on ZDF: “I’m happy with fifth place. But now I have to keep working and keep at it.”
Herrmann-Wick had won the sprint on Thursday and left the track with a lead of 18 seconds. After the second shooting, the former world champion lost the lead after a penalty and was only third. In the first standing stage that followed, Herrmann-Wick could have overtaken him again after a blunder from the competition. But her second penalty prevented that.
The most experienced of the German team stayed third and lost a position in front of an atmospheric crowd, which also included Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann in the main stand, due to another mistake before she also had to let Swede Elvira Öberg pass on the final lap.
Before the race, Herrmann-Wick was only 25 points behind the yellow jersey of the leaders in the overall World Cup. However, Simon confidently defended her top position. Laura Dahlmeier was the last German to wear the jersey. The seven-time world champion won the overall World Cup in the 2016/2017 season and last donned the coveted bib at the season finale in Oslo on March 19, 2017.
