Justus Strelow took ninth place in the mass start in Antholz in the last race before the Biathlon World Championships. In the victory of the Norwegian Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (1 mistake), the 27-year-old had two penalties and was 59.5 seconds behind the leader at the finish.
Second place in Italy went to Johannes Dale-Skjevdal (2 errors) ahead of Vebjörn Sörum (1). This means that three Norwegians were once again on the podium. The second best German in the 15 kilometer race was Philipp Nawrath (4) in 13th position.
“It was already difficult today. I really noticed the exhaustion, so I’m quite happy,” said Strelow on ARD. He won the single mixed competition on Saturday together with Vanessa Voigt and got off to a strong start a day later. After two error-free shooting sessions, the Saxon was initially in the lead. However, a penalty in the third stage and another at the end made a podium finish impossible.
Shortly before the World Championships in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic (February 7th to 18th), the German team showed a mixed performance at the end in South Tyrol. Roman Rees (2 errors) finished 15th, too many mistakes at the shooting range meant Benedikt Doll (4) and Johannes Kühn (4) finished 16th and 17th. Danilo Riethmüller (4) finished the second World Cup race of his career in 24th place .
