A victory for Sivert: Giacomel wins ahead of Nawrath and Dale-Skjevdal
A spine-tingling moment at the BMW IBU Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof: after his victory in the men's sprint, Italy's Tommaso Giacomel pointed his finger towards the sky – a silent tribute to his friend Sivert Guttorm Bakken, who passed away shortly before Christmas. Already before the official start, thousands of spectators in the ARENA am Rennsteig had joined the athletes in observing a commemoration minute in memory of the Norwegian. One minute without words, but a long-lasting applause for a popular athlete who left behind more than just a sporting void in Oberhof. Many athletes, including the eventual winner Giacomel, were visibly fighting back tears.
Despite the mental strain, Giacomel delivered an outstanding performance. Like many top athletes, the Italian made only one mistake and secured victory with a commanding 13.2-second lead over DSV star Philipp Nawrath (in 25:01.7 minutes). But the joy was clouded. ‘It's one of the best days of my biathlon career – and at the same time one of the worst. Sivert is no longer here. This is his victory,’ Giacomel explained later.
Nawrath strong – German exclamation mark
From a German perspective, Philipp Nawrath made a strong statement ahead of the Olympics. The 31-year-old skied a controlled, cleverly paced race, made only one mistake at the shooting range and secured a strong second place (25:14.9) with the fourth-fastest running time, to the applause of the Oberhof crowd. Nawrath showed his strength especially on the final lap. ‘That's a huge relief,’ said the Nesselwang native at the finish line. ‘I've always had difficulties getting back into the competition programme in Oberhof,’ said the 32-year-old, who knew how to adjust to the special conditions this time. ‘I deliberately stayed controlled on the Birxsteig, and then I had really good legs at the end.’ He was also touched by the events surrounding the death of Sivert Bakken: ‘It's all very hard. The emotions were crazy today.’ Third place went to Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, who completed the podium with one miss at the first shooting range and the best pure skiing performance (one miss, +25.2 seconds).
Further German performances: lots of light, but also shadow
In the background of the podium, the German team put in a good overall team performance. Local hero Philipp Horn finished in a strong seventh place (one miss, +38.7 seconds). ‘I tried to let the spectators carry me – it got brutally tough at the end, and I had to pay for the fast pace at the beginning,’ summed up the 31-year-old, who nevertheless delivered the eighth-fastest skiing time. David Zobel impressed with twelfth place (one miss, +59.9 seconds), securing half of the national norm for the Olympics: ‘I can't stop smiling. The Birxsteig was really fun and the skis were outstanding,’ said the 29-year-old at the finish.
Lucas Fratzscher from Oberhof achieved a respectable result, finishing 16th with a decent skiing performance, just missing the Olympic norm by a narrow margin (two misses, +1:24.1 minutes). Justus Strelow had a disappointing day, finishing 46th (three penalty loops, +2:13.0 minutes), as did Johannes Kühn in 60th, who fell well short of expectations with five shooting errors (+2:27.7 minutes).