“I’m very surprised, they’re deploying their C-teams. That’s terrible,” the legendary Norwegian biathlete in the role of TV 2 expert Ole Einar Björndalen did not understand the logic of the German and French representatives, who on Thursday did not even field the biggest names in the mixed pairs.
In essence, France and Germany voluntarily vacated the positions that the silver Austrians and the bronze Italians were happy to take.
Even the two best Czech competitors at the World Championships, Markéta Davidová and Tereza Voborníková, made no secret of the fact that they do not really rush into this discipline. The choice ultimately fell on the younger Voborníková. However, her pair with Michal Krčmář was nowhere near able to take advantage of the weakening of the best competitors and ended up in 14th place, when even the relay teams of Moldova and Estonia got in front of them.
“The French made it clear in advance that they would not field the best, allegedly because it is not an Olympic discipline. And that despite the fact that they already won the race with Julia Simonová and Antonin Guigonnat earlier at the World Championships,” he glossed the topic in the Björndalen studio.
“The Germans also put on their badge, while it is the World Cup on their soil. When the biggest engine of the entire international biathlon is sitting on the mixed doubles relay, the next step will probably be that he won’t start at all. The Germans are indirectly saying that this race is useless. It is very surprising to me. 15,000 fans will come to see them on their land, and in the strongest line-up they would almost certainly have a medal,” wondered one of the best biathletes of all time.
The domestic couple Sophia Schneider and Philipp Nawrath eventually took the sixth place, the French, composed of Lou Jeanmonnot and Fabien Claude, were fifth.
The fourth place was won by the Swedes, who, however, unlike the Germans and the French, fielded medalists from the previous WC, Hanna Öbergová and Sebastian Samuelsson.
“After all, the goal of participating in the WC should be to win as many medals as possible. That is why, for example, we and the Norwegians field the best competitors. I don’t really understand other people’s plans. It’s a world championship, so the best should compete,” the head of the Swedish national team, Johannes Lukas, told TV 2.
“We in Norway also learned a lesson, because when mixed relays were introduced in 2007, we didn’t field the best athletes either. Now we know it was a mistake. When a new race is introduced, it is always some kind of evolution of the sport. If not, then the question should be raised whether this competition simply does not fit into the program. There are four relay races at the championship. Is it too much? For the Germans and the French, obviously yes,” added Björndalen.
