Biathlon: a day to forget for the Italians
The specialists had warned. This Wednesday, during the opening mixed relay of the biathlon world championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), the snow conditions would be difficult to apprehend. And it looks like they were right.
From the very first laps, the athletes struggled to extricate themselves from the heavy, wet snow. The Italians didn’t really seem to be able to cope with these race hazards. Hannah Auchentaller, Dorothea Wierer, Lukas Hofer and Tommaso Giacomel were ambitious before the race, but they quickly fell by the wayside.
Hannah Auchentaller and Dorothea Wierer ended up in seventh place after the penalty lap taken by the young last-choice relay runner, but they couldn’t hide their disappointment in the mixed zone. ” I was clever enough to leave some space when my rivals in front of me fell [Julia Simon and Anna Magnusson, editor’s note]. Before the official training session, I was tense but once I got my skis on, I calmed down,” the 23-year-old biathlete told her federation. The snow wasn’t easy because it’s hot and you have to keep your energy up so you don’t suffer too much in the final phase.
With just two picks to her name, her experienced compatriot was also struggling to find any positives from the day. “It was really hard and I wasn’t feeling very well. Let’s hope the conditions improve, because it’s getting difficult this way,” lamented Dorothea Wierer. The forecast is for the weather to get worse, so we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll be analysing the data carefully. The firing point isn’t that easy; as soon as the flags indicate air, you have to be ready to react.
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