Biathlon: no individual medal for Franziska Preuss
On Tuesday, Franziska Preuss came within a whisker of a new world title inthe individual event at the biathlon world championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), following her success in the pursuit on Sunday. However, the German, who until now has been impressively disciplined on the shooting range, let two precious bullets slip in her final burst.
Two mistakes that are inevitably costly when you know that a mistake in this format penalizes you by one minute on the clock. A mental lapse, as the world number one competed on the boards with the ninth fastest ski time of the day.
“With one last shot, anything can happen. I lost my concentration and couldn’t change my position,” she told her federation. I fought hard and waited a long time for the first ball, but it didn’t go as planned. I didn’t manage to do what I normally do. It was a blow to make those two mistakes.
Finally in tenth place at the finish, the 30-year-old biathlete was even overtaken in the rankings by France’s Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, in ninth place with one more fault than the native of Wasserburg am Inn (Germany). However, when she appeared before the journalists, the woman with a total of ten world medals wanted to put things into perspective.
“There’s no point in harping on about it”.Franziska Preuss on behalf of her federation
“On the last lap, I didn’t want to know where I stood. My plan fell through and it was a bit brutal. It’s a shame, of course, but there’s no point dwelling on it,” she says. You can’t redo the race. There’s no doubt that Franziska Preuss will be out to conquer the last individual world title up for grabs this fortnight in the canton of Grisons.
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