6th Biathlon World Cup 2019/20 (Pokljuka)

Biathlon World Cup 2019/20 (Pokljuka)
	Men's	Ladies
winner
singles	Johannes Thingnes Bø	Denise Herrmann
Mass start	Quentin Fillon Maillet	Hanna Öberg
Single mixed relay	France
Mixed relay	France

The 6th Biathlon World Cup of the 2019/20 season took place in Slovenia on the Pokljuka alpine plateau . The Pokljuka biathlon stadium , where the competitions took place, is also the venue for the 2021 biathlon world championships . This year the competitions were held between January 23 and January 26, 2020.

Competition program

6th World Cup on the Pokljuka

date	Women		Men
Thursday, January 23rd, 2020			2:15 p.m.	Single (20 km)
Fri, January 24th, 2020	2:15 p.m.	Single (20 km)
Sat, January 25th, 2020	1:15 p.m.	Single-mixed relay (2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km)
	3:00 p.m.	Mixed relay (4 × 7.5 km)
Sun, January 26th, 2020	3:00 p.m.	Mass start (12.5 km)	12:15 p.m.	Mass start (15 km)

Participating Nations

Belgium  Bulgaria  Germany  Estonia  Finland  France  Greece  Italy  Japan  Canada  Kazakhstan

Croatia  Latvia  Lithuania  Moldova  Norway  Austria  Poland  Romania  Russia  Sweden  Switzerland

Serbia  Slovakia  Slovenia  South Korea  Czech Republic  Ukraine  United Kingdom  United States  People's Republic of China  Belarus

Starting position

The races on the Pokljuka were a double dress rehearsal. On the one hand, the competitions were the last before the World Championships in Antholz, which began on February 13, 2020. At the same time, it was the last races on the Pokljuka before the next World Championships are to take place there in 2021 .

While it became known in the run-up to the competitions that Simon Schempp would not take part in the World Championships, Erik Lesser got another chance to achieve his missing World Championship standard. He replaced Roman Rees , who was only used in Ruhpolding the previous week and will also not take part in the World Championships. There were no changes in the German women's team compared to the previous week.

Results

6th World Cup on the Pokljuka , January 23 to January 26, 2020
date	discipline	First place	Second place	third place
January 23, 2020 (Thu.)	Single (20 km)	Johannes Thingnes Bø	Martin Fourcade	Fabien Claude
January 24, 2020 (Fri.)	Single (15 km)	Denise Herrmann	Hanna Öberg	Anaïs Bescond
January 25, 2020 (Sat.)	Single mixed relay (2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km)	France Émilien Jacquelin Anaïs Bescond	Estonia Rene Zahkna Regina Oja	Austria Simon Eder Lisa Hauser
January 25, 2020 (Sat.)	Mixed relay (4 × 7.5 km)	France Quentin Fillon Maillet Simon Desthieux Justine Braisaz Julia Simon	Norway Tarjei Bø Johannes Thingnes Bø Synnøve Solemdal Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold	Germany Philipp Horn Johannes Kühn Janina Hettich Vanessa Hinz
January 26, 2020 (Sun.)	Mass start (15 km)	Quentin Fillon Maillet	Benedikt Doll	Johannes Thingnes Bø
January 26, 2020 (Sun.)	Mass start (12.5 km)	Hanna Öberg	Lisa Vittozzi	Anaïs Bescond

Men

Women

Mixed

course

singles

Men

Start: Thursday, January 23, 2020, 2:15 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Johannes Thingnes Bø	47: 54.3	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
2	Martin Fourcade	+11.4	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
3	Fabien Claude	+25.6	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
4th	Philipp Nawrath	+36.7	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
5	Johannes Dale	+1: 02.4	0 + 1 + 0 + 0
6th	Tarjei Bø	+1: 26.4	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
7th	Quentin Fillon Maillet	+1: 28.5	0 + 1 + 0 + 1
8th	Johannes Kühn	+1: 41.8	0 + 1 + 0 + 0
9	Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen	+1: 56.1	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
10	Benedikt Doll	+2: 06.5	1 + 1 + 0 + 0

Registered: 109 athletes, not finished: 1

In the first race after his "baby break" (became the father of his son Gustav) Johannes Thingnes Bø was once again able to defeat his greatest competitor Martin Fourcade. The third Fabien Claude achieved a podium in the Biathlon World Cup for the first time in his career. Before the race it was announced that his father Gilles at a snowmobile tour on the Lac Saint-Jean in Canada slumped. He has been missing since then. Claude, and his brother Florent , who started for Belgium , wrote on social networks after the race: "A star that will accompany us all our lives. We love you, Papa". Many of the athletes paid their respects to Claude for showing his best race despite the psychological stress and expressed their condolences.

The best athlete from Switzerland was Benjamin Weger (22nd / 2 shooting errors). The best Austrian was Simon Eder who crossed the finish line in 15th place. Lukas Hofer , who was 13th and was the best man from Italy, did it even better .

Women

Start: Friday, January 24th, 2020, 2:15 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Denise Herrmann	41: 33.4	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
2	Hanna Öberg	+59.2	0 + 1 + 0 + 0
3	Anaïs Bescond	+1: 15.7	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
4th	Lisa Vittozzi	+1: 21.7	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
5	Franziska Preuss	+2: 02.8	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
6th	Clare Egan	+2: 10.4	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
7th	Lisa Hauser	+2: 53.2	1 + 0 + 0 + 0
8th	Irina Starych	+2: 59.5	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
9	Aita Gasparin	+3: 02.6	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
10	Emma Lunder	+3: 06.8	1 + 0 + 0 + 0

Registered: 100 athletes, not at the start: 1, not finished: 1

Denise Herrmann's victory also marked the first victory of a German biathlete this season. Thanks to faultless shooting, the 31-year-old celebrated her fifth World Cup victory. Lisa Vittozzi, second in the overall World Cup last year, also achieved her best result of the season with fourth place. With Lisa Hauser and Aita Gasparin, the best participants from Austria and Switzerland were also among the top 10. A total of nine different nations managed to get one of their athletes into the top ten. Only the DSV provided two women.

Single mixed relay

Start: Saturday, January 25, 2020, 1:15 p.m.

space	country	athlete	time	Penalty loops + spare rounds
1	France	Émilien Jacquelin Anaïs Bescond	38: 33.4	0 + 0 0 + 0/0 + 1 0 + 2 0 + 1 0 + 0/0 + 1 0 + 0
2	Estonia	Rene Zahkna Regina Oja	+5.9	0 + 0 0 + 0/0 + 1 0 + 1 0 + 1 0 + 0/0 + 0 0 + 0
3	Austria	Simon Eder Lisa Hauser	+12.1	0 + 1 0 + 1/0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 1 0 + 2/0 + 0 0 + 1
4th	Canada	Christian Gow Emma Lunder	+16.0	0 + 1 0 + 1/0 + 1 0 + 2 0 + 1 0 + 0/0 + 0 0 + 0
5	Ukraine	Dmytro Pidruchnyj Anastasija Merkushyna	+28.8	0 + 0 0 + 0/0 + 0 0 + 0 1 + 3 0 + 0/0 + 0 0 + 1

Registered and at the start: 26 nations, lapped: 2

The French, who were fourth at the start of the season, were able to win the second edition of the single mixed relay. The second-placed duo from Estonia (Zahkna / Oja) was able to win the first podium ever for their country in a mixed competition. The Austrians came in third. Serafin Wiestner and Irene Cadurisch achieved sixth place for Switzerland. The German team with Erik Lesser and Franziska Preuß , in the same line-up in Östersund, came in eleventh place. Thomas Bormolini and Lisa Vittozzi finished the race for Italy in 19th place.

Mixed relay

Start: Saturday, January 25, 2020, 3 p.m.

space	country	athlete	time	Penalty loops + spare rounds
1	France	Quentin Fillon Maillet Simon Desthieux Justine Braisaz Julia Simon	1: 17: 53.3	0 + 1 0 + 0 0 + 2 0 + 0 0 + 1 0 + 1 0 + 1 0 + 2
2	Norway	Tarjei Bø Johannes Thingnes Bø Synnøve Solemdal Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold	+40.6	0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 2 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 2 0 + 0 0 + 0
3	Germany	Philipp Horn Johannes Kühn Janina Hettich Vanessa Hinz	+1: 01.4	0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 1 0 + 0 0 + 2 0 + 1 0 + 1
4th	Russia	Matwei Jelissejew Alexander Loginow Larissa Kuklina Irina Starych	+1: 24.8	0 + 2 0 + 0 0 + 1 0 + 3 0 + 0 0 + 1 0 + 0 0 + 0
5	Sweden	Peppe Femling Jesper Nelin Anna Magnusson Elisabeth Högberg	+1: 34.3	0 + 2 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 0 0 + 1 0 + 1 0 + 2

Registered and at the start: 26 nations, lapped: 3, not finished: 1, disqualified: 1

After the duo of the single mixed relay had won their race just a few hours earlier, the French quartet was also able to achieve first place. The German team crossed the finish line in third behind the Norwegians. However, the best Germans of the overall World Cup for women and men, Denise Herrmann and Benedikt Doll, did not take part in the mixed relay, which was held for the first time over 4 × 7.5 kilometers (since this year, the route of the gender of the starting runner applies / the starting runner for all four athletes). The team from Italy, winner of the first mixed relay, finished the race in 9th place, one place ahead of the Swiss. The Austrians finished seventh despite a penalty loop.

Mass start

Men

Start: Sunday, January 26th, 2020, 12:15 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Quentin Fillon Maillet	36: 21.5	0 + 0 + 1 + 0
2	Benedikt Doll	+10.0	0 + 1 + 0 + 0
3	Johannes Thingnes Bø	+10.3	1 + 0 + 0 + 1
4th	Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen	+10.6	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
5	Martin Fourcade	+10.8	0 + 0 + 1 + 0
6th	Erlend Bjøntegaard	+21.4	0 + 1 + 0 + 1
7th	Johannes Dale	+39.8	0 + 0 + 1 + 1
8th	Simon Eder	+42.8	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
9	Tarjei Bø	+43.5	0 + 1 + 0 + 1
10	Lukas Hofer	+1: 05.4	0 + 0 + 1 + 1

Registered and at the start: 30 athletes

It was Quentin Fillon Maillet's first win of the season. The Frenchman made an overall mistake on the shooting range and also ran the third best pure run time. In the battle for second place, four athletes fought a close duel. In the end before was Benedikt Doll. The German crossed the finish line just 0.3 seconds before the Norwegian high-flyer Bø, who had also won the individual in Pokljuka. His compatriot Christiansen and the overall World Cup leader Fourcade, who had started the final round in second place, followed just behind. Benjamin Weger was the only qualified Swiss player to finish 23rd with two shooting errors.

Women

Start: Sunday, January 26th, 2020, 3:00 p.m.

space	athlete	time	Shooting error
1	Hanna Öberg	34: 14.4	0 + 0 + 1 + 0
2	Lisa Vittozzi	+6.5	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
3	Anaïs Bescond	+27.6	0 + 0 + 0 + 0
4th	Monika Hojnisz-Staręga	+37.5	0 + 0 + 1 + 0
5	Justine Braisaz	+44.1	0 + 1 + 1 + 1
6th	Marte Olsbu Røiseland	+48.4	0 + 0 + 1 + 2
7th	Lisa Hauser	+59.9	0 + 0 + 0 + 1
8th	Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold	+1: 09.0	0 + 0 + 0 + 2
9	Dorothea Wierer	+1: 09.6	1 + 0 + 0 + 2
10	Markéta Davidová	+1: 22.5	0 + 2 + 0 + 0

Registered and at the start: 30 athletes

For the reigning world and Olympic champion in singles, Hanna Öberg, the success in the mass start was the first victory of the season. In the last race before the season, despite a shooting error, the Swede prevailed over her rivals Vittozzi and Bescond, who both had no mistakes. From a German perspective, the last race before the world championships was anything but successful. Denise Herrmann crossed the finish line as the best with five mistakes on the shooting range and a good two minutes behind in 15th place. With Denise Herrmann, Franziska Preuß and Vanessa Hinz, only three German women have fulfilled the internal qualification standards of the DSV .

From the perspective of the Swiss team, the race was not much more successful. As the best athlete in her country, Lena Häcki crossed the finish line in 14th, one place ahead of Germany's best Denise Herrmann.

Effects

To the overall World Cup

After his return from the "baby break" Johannes Thingnes Bø was able to catch up a few places in the overall standings with his two podium places, but was still 119 points behind the still leading Martin Fourcade. Even the best German, Benedikt Doll, was able to improve further. After achieving two top five results, the German was in 7th place.

Although Tiril Eckhoff did not start in the mass start, the Norwegian was able to keep her lead in the overall World Cup. However, their lead shrank to 15 points (compared to 42 in the previous week). With her success in the individual, Denise Herrmann confirmed her position as the best German of the season. With 419 points it was in 4th place. After two good results (including second place in the mass start), Lisa Vittozzi also made it into the top ten of the overall World Cup for the first time this season after completing a World Cup station, after finishing second in the overall World Cup last season and the little crystal ball won in singles.

Overall World Cup men	Overall World Cup women
Top 10 after 13 of 21 races	Top 10 after 13 of 21 races
rank Surname Points Victories Verän- alteration 1  Martin Fourcade 601 5 2  Quentin Fillon Maillet 532 1 3  Johannes Thingnes Bø 482 6th 4th  Simon Desthieux 479 5  Tarjei Bø 461 6th  Alexander Loginov 436 7th  Benedikt Doll 415 1 8th  Émilien Jacquelin 401 9  Johannes Dale 398 10  Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen 372	rank Surname Points Victories Verän- alteration 1  Tiril Eckhoff 524 6th 2  Dorothea Wierer 509 2 3  Hanna Öberg 456 1 4th  Denise Herrmann 419 1 5  Julia Simon 385 6th  Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold 384 7th  Marte Olsbu Røiseland 381 1 8th  Justine Braisaz 380 1 9  Paulína Fialková 353 10  Lisa Vittozzi 325

In the German team

Following the competitions on the Pokljuka, the German Ski Association announced the participants for the subsequent World Championships. With Simon Schempp and Franziska Hildebrand, two former world champions were missing from both the men's and women's teams . Erik Lesser was nominated in spite of the only half-fulfilled norm. In addition, there were Benedikt Doll , Arnd Peiffer , Philipp Horn , Johannes Kühn and Philipp Nawrath, the five athletes who had fully met the norm over the course of the season. Among the German biathletes, Karolin Horchler and Janina Hettich were appointed in addition to those with a fulfilled standard ( Denise Herrmann , Franziska Preuß & Vanessa Hinz ) .

Debutants

The following athletes took part in a biathlon world cup for the first time. This can be both individual races and relay races.

Men	Women
Oskar Brandt	Emily Dickson
Kirill Strelzow	Anna Hedstrom
	Hongru Chen
	Lotte Lie

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Erik Lesser with World Cup chance on the Pokljuka, Simon Schempp World Cup out. January 23, 2020, accessed January 31, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Final Results Individual 20 km sprint. (PDF) IBU, January 23, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Father of French biathletes missing: "We love you, Papa". January 24, 2020, accessed January 24, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Final Results Women 15 km Individual. (PDF) IBU, January 24, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Herrmann with an impressive victory on the Pokljuka. January 24, 2020, accessed January 26, 2020 . 
6. ^ Competition Analysis Single Mixed Relay. (PDF) IBU, January 25, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Competition Analysis 4x7.5 km Mixed Relay. (PDF) IBU, January 25, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Final Results Men 15 km Mass start. (PDF) IBU, January 26, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Final Results Women 12.5 km Mass start. (PDF) IBU, January 26, 2020, accessed on March 17, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Men's World Cup Total Score Intermediate After 13 Competitions. (PDF) IBU, January 26, 2020, accessed on March 18, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Women's World Cup Total Score Intermediate After 13 Competitions. (PDF) IBU, January 26, 2020, accessed on March 18, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Eleven German biathletes start at the World Championships in Antholz. January 29, 2020, accessed March 18, 2020 .