Winter sports spectacle in the VELTINS-Arena: On Saturday (28.12.), the most talented biathletes were once again guests in Gelsenkirchen. The top-class field of starters from a total of nine nations battled for the title in front of tens of thousands of fans. In the end, victory went to Norway, but the two German teams were also able to celebrate.
Thanks to their strong performance at the shooting range, Karoline Offigstadt Knotten and Sturla Holm Laegreid were not to be denied first place on this day. The Norwegians finished ahead of all the other teams at the mass start. Anna Weidel and Justus Strelow, who was celebrating his premiere at Schalke, finished the race in fourth place. Franziska Preuß and Philipp Nawrath finished fifth. The two German duos then triumphed in the pursuit and completed the podium at the end. Weidel and Strelow were delighted with second place, Preuß and Nawrath came third. France's Julia Simon and Fabien Claude, who wanted to complete the hat-trick for the first time, finished sixth.
"Once again this year, we saw a spectacular competition in Gelsenkirchen. The athletes competed with passion and were cheered on by an enthusiastic audience. These emotions are what make the Biathlon World Team Challenge so special," emphasized Herbert Fritzenwenger, Sports Director of the tournament. "I would like to congratulate Team Norway, but I am particularly pleased about two podium places for Germany today. This is a great success."
Winners of the Talent Team Challenge also come from Norway
A fast-paced race had already been on offer at the Talent Team Challenge. The young biathlon talents impressed with fast runs on the cross-country ski trail and exciting duels at the shooting range. Guro Femsteinevik and Sivert Silsand Gerhardsen - also representing Norway - were delighted to take first place on the podium. They finished ahead of Wilma Anhaus and Thomas Marchl from Austria and Charlotte Gallbronner and Linus Kesper from Germany. Alina Nußbicker and Elias Seidl were the second German duo to finish in fourth place.
The biathlon at Schalke also left nothing to be desired off the piste: In glorious sunshine, there was an exuberant party atmosphere in the winter village throughout the day. The same applied to the first Biathlon Darts World Championships, where several teams battled it out at the target. In the VELTINS Arena, Daniele Puccia, known from the TV show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar", got the audience in the right mood with his band - the perfect prelude to the legendary après-ski party in the Winter Village. After the award ceremony, a spectacular indoor firework display provided the perfect end to an eventful day.
Final result of the Biathlon WTC 2024
1st Knotten/Laegreid (NOR)
2. Weidel/Strelow (GER) +30.4
3. Preuß/Nawrath (GER) +33.1
4th Lie/Claude (BEL) +34.8
5th Magnusson/Nelin (SWE) +36.1
6th Simon/Claude (FRA) +1:56.3
7th Dzhyma/Pidruchnyi (UKR) +2:07.7
8th Klemencic/Fak (SVN) +2:10.5
9th Jislova/Krcmar (CZE) +2:14.3
10th Bendika/Rastorgujevs (LVA) +2:37.1
