Frenchwoman Botet sensationally wins the sprint in Oberhof - DSV women miss out on the podium
France's Paula Botet has won the sprint at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 2025 in Oberhof surprisingly. The leader of the overall standings in the IBU Cup replaced Sophie Chauveau in France's strong World Cup team for the first time this season. She was one of the few athletes to remain penalty-free and impressed on the course as well with the seventh-best skiing time. The ARENA am Rennsteig seems to be a career-defining venue for the 24-year-old young athlete from the neighboring country. Three years ago, Botet also made her World Cup debut in Oberhof. ‘I can hardly believe it myself. When I crossed the finish line, I knew that there were still many top athletes coming after me who could overtake me,’ said the happy winner. ‘Oberhof was already a special place for me before this victory. I was here last year with my mother and trained in the ski hall. Even back then, I dreamt of standing at the start in the World Cup here,” said the daughter of a former French biathlete.
With a clear backlog of 31.1 seconds, Norway's Maren Kirkeeide finished in second place and ahead of Milena Todorova (+35.0 seconds) from Bulgaria, who finished with the third fastest time. Both had to complete one penalty loop.
The German athletes who were used to success had nothing to do with the outcome of the race this time. World Cup leader Franziska Preuß, who had already secured the yellow jersey before the race due to her lead, missed in the adverse conditions a total of three targets. Her 28th place was her worst result of the season. ‘It wasn't a good day today. I had a lot of wind in the standing shooting and had to wait, and then it gets harder and harder to hit the target. I had good energy originally, but the course got deeper and deeper as time went on,’ said the best athlete of the season so far. ‘You then trudge through the wet mud and can't make any progress.’ The best results from a DSV perspective were achieved by the two youngsters, Julia Tannheimer in ninth place (+56.4 seconds/1 miss) and Selina Grotian in tenth place (59.0 seconds/1 miss). Local heroine Vanessa Voigt on the other hand had a bad day, only finishing with 3:32.2 minutes behind Botet as 68th and will therefore only be able to watch the pursuit race on Saturday.