The Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto witnessed Benedikt Doll bagging the second medal for Germany. Doll, a seasoned athlete at 33 and hailing from the Black Forest, conceded defeat to the Norwegian duo Johannes Thingnes Bö and Tarjei Bö. This happened on Wednesday evening when Doll made a shooting error. Both the Bö brothers also made one penalty minute each. Doll’s bronze medal win comes a day after Janina Hettich-Walz’s unexpected silver among the women. This victory has been a much-needed relief for the men’s team of the German Ski Association. With this, Doll adds the second World Cup individual medal to his list of achievements.
Covering a distance of 20 kilometers, Doll finished the race 1:53.2 minutes behind the reigning champion Bö. Bö has successfully retained his title, adding the 19th World Championship gold to his career. This marks his second victory in the Czech Republic. With this win, Bö is just one title short of matching the record of world champion Ole Einar Björndalen. Despite a shooting error, Bö was unstoppable in his race to victory. The only close competition he had was from his elder brother Tarjei, who also had made a mistake.
Prior to this, the Norwegians were already celebrating having swept all the podium places in the sprint and achieved a five-fold triumph in the chase race. Doll broke this pattern by becoming the first non-Norwegian to win an individual medal in Nove Mesto. The German ski hunters, coached by Uros Velepec, have two more opportunities to win medals this weekend in the relay and in the final mass start. Last year, in Oberhof, the men’s team had failed to win a medal in World Championship races for the first time since 1976.
