After winning the last sprint race of her career, Denise Herrmann-Wick shed tears of joy. "It's very emotional right now," said the World Champion after her eleventh World Cup triumph in Oslo on Saturday. The 34-year-old secured the small crystal globe in the Sprint World Cup for the second time with a gala performance without shooting errors and reached the last goal of her successful career one day before her announced retirement.
"It's really pure pleasure," said the Saxon at the end of a perfect day in which she managed the second-best running time. Friends and family had cheered her on in perfect weather at Holmenkollen. "I am incredibly proud and happy that we can enjoy the day so much," said Herrmann-Wick. Behind her, the Swede Hanna Öberg (0 errors) finished in second place, 3.5 seconds behind, third place in Norway's capital was taken by Julia Simon from France (1).
Last race in mass start
Due to thick fog, the race on Friday could not take place and was postponed by one day. For this, the pursuer originally planned for Saturday was deleted from the program.
Herrmann-Wick had announced on Tuesday her career end, on Sunday (15.10 / ARD and Eurosport) the former cross-country skier will be in the mass start for the last time. "It's a crazy feeling. You can only imagine it as it is," Herrmann-Wick said about the last moments of her career of the ARD: "I don't want to imagine Sunday yet."
In any case, it gets emotional again. "That could well happen," she replied to the question of whether a few tears might flow at the end.
This happened even a day earlier, so overwhelmed was the two-time world champion after she had once again withstood all pressure. "I tried to do the best race I could do. I succeeded," said Herrmann-Wick: "You know it's the last sprint. I'm glad I was able to keep my nerves in check in the competition."
The second best German was the flawless Janina Hettich-Walz in eighth, Hanna Kebinger (1) also made it into the top 17 in 20th. Vanessa Voigt (0) in 41st place fell short of expectations, followed by World Cup debutants Selina Grotian (2/44th) and Lisa Maria Spark (0/53rd). It was very disappointing for Anna Weidel (3), who finished 82nd.
In the men's race, Benedikt Doll had previously finished fourth. Two days after his third place in the sprint, two penalty laps prevented another podium finish for the 32-year-old. At the finish, the Black Forest driver was 55.3 seconds behind the superior winner Johannes Thingnes Bö from Norway. Second place went to the flawless Frenchman Quentin Fillon Maillet ahead of Sturla Holm Laegreid (1 error) from Norway. Doll was only six seconds short of third place.
Second best German was Philipp Nawrath (2) in 14th, followed by Roman Rees (2) in 20th place and Lucas Fratzscher (3) in 21st place.Behind David Zobel (3/27th) Johannes Kühn (9) in 50th and Philipp Horn (6) in 52nd disappointed with very weak shooting performances. Justus Strelow was absent at short notice due to a blockage of the cervical spine. Whether the 26-year-old Saxon can be back in the mass start on Sunday, was initially not clear.