A delightful surprise from Ukrainian captains, the drama of Richard, and the consistency of the leaders. Highlights from the stage in Annecy.
This time at the stage, there were three individual races held, without relays. It's encouraging that Ukrainians participated in all three races, including the prestigious mass start.
Achievements of Ukrainians
Fans of domestic biathlon may struggle to recall when our athletes last won medals, as the two previous seasons saw Ukrainians go without awards, making a top-10 finish a significant achievement.
At the stage in Ansi, the veteran of the national team, Yulia Dzhima, delighted the fans. In the opening race of the stage, Dzhima unexpectedly achieved fourth place in the sprint! Just six seconds separated Yulia from the bronze! Perfect shooting and a very good pace allowed the Ukrainian to participate in the flower ceremony for the first time this season! In the pursuit race, Dzhima also showed a commendable performance, securing the eighth position with one miss. Bravo! By the end of the stage, the Ukrainian climbed to 18th place in the overall standings, where German Franziska Preuss leads with a staggering gap (almost 200 points).
Regarding the men's team, Dmitry Pidruchnyi had a noteworthy performance in France, significantly improving his pace and shooting. After a less than successful sprint (1+1, and 40th place), the team captain managed to climb to 18th place in the pursuit race, and with one miss, he finished 12th in the mass start. It’s worth noting that Vitaliy Mandzin also competed in the mass start, but with one miss, he only secured 19th place.
Losses of the Stage
Unfortunately, the start of the current season disrupted the plans for many biathletes. This situation concerns not only the leaders of world biathlon like Hanna Eberhard, Lisa Vittozzi, Ingrid Tandrevold, and Marketa Davidova.
Due to health issues, the Ukrainian representation in the mass start races was smaller than anticipated. Christina Dmitrenko and Anton Dudchenko were unable to participate in the elite discipline. Health, of course, is more important. We hope that next year they will have more opportunities to compete in the mass start, including at the World Championships.
Battle of Titans
This refers to the legends of modern biathlon – Johannes Thingnes Boe and Franziska Preuss. Both leaders of the overall standings showed nearly identical results in Ansi, and most importantly, they managed to extend their lead over competitors even further.
The Norwegian and the German alternately took silver in the sprint, and two days later, they both redeemed themselves (for these athletes, even second place can be considered a failure) in the pursuit race, winning by almost half a minute over their rivals. In the mass start, Boe had three misses, so he was satisfied with "only" bronze, while Preuss, with a clean shooting performance, lost to her teammate Grothian in the final lap.
Medals in all three races of the stage allowed them to significantly distance themselves from competitors in the overall standings. Boe has 569 points, Legreid has 454, and Jacqueline has 373. Preuss holds an even stronger position with 565 points, while Elvira Eberhard has 371, and Jeanmonnot has 352.
Germans of the Stage
Special mention should be made of two German biathletes – Selina Grothian and Danilo Ritmuller, who set personal records!
Selina Grothian, in a thrilling women’s mass start, managed to outpace the experienced overall leader Franziska Preuss, even with one miss, securing her first career victory at the World Cup stages.
As for Ritmuller, the German reached the podium for the first time in his career, winning silver in the mass start. With one miss, Danilo finished just four seconds behind Tarjei Boe, and managed to hold off Johannes, winning by five seconds.
Excellent results from the German team ahead of the home stages.
Disappointment of the Stage
Undoubtedly, this title goes to the Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot. Competing in front of her home crowd, the contender for the Big Crystal Globe (which was thought to be the case at the start of the season) failed to secure any medals at her home stage! A disappointing performance in the sprint (35th place), some progress in the pursuit (18th place), and a mediocre showing in the mass start (14th) are clearly not the results expected by the French team. And while 200 points behind Preuss can still be made up, such results are not promising.
Drama of the Stage
Overall, the races in Ansi proceeded without major incidents, except for the finish of the women’s mass start. Frenchwoman Jeanne Richard, after her fourth shooting, calmly set off for the final lap as a potential bronze medalist – ahead was the German duo Preuss/Grothian, which seemed impossible to catch, and behind her was a comfortable, as it seemed, gap of more than 20 seconds from the group of competitors.
That was the case until the last 50 meters of the race, when Richard spotted Slovakian leader Paulina Batovska-Fialkova on the parallel track. The leader of the Slovak team did the nearly impossible – she managed to close a 22-second gap and overtook the flustered Frenchwoman just before the finish!
The next, fourth stage of the World Cup will take place in Oberhof, Germany, from January 9 to 12, 2025. The program includes sprints, pursuit races, and mixed relays.
Vladislav Dudka for Champion
Responsible editor – Denis Shakhovets