After the strong start to the season in Finland, the German biathletes are hoping for highlights at the second World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria.

"Obviously, great progress has been made in our preparation, and we have to continue working on that now," said sports director Felix Bitterling from the German Ski Association before the women's sprint over 7.5 kilometers on Thursday (2:10 p.m. / ZDF and Eurosport). Last week there were surprisingly four podium finishes in eight competitions at the start in Kontiolahti - three for the men and one for the women.

"Many of the younger athletes who haven't been able to draw so much attention to themselves in recent years have been able to achieve great results," said Bitterling. With Olympic champions Denise Herrmann, Vanessa Voigt, Sophia Schneider and Anna Weidel, four women have already met the standard for the home World Championships in Oberhof in Thuringia right away. For men, David Zobel, Roman Rees and Benedikt Doll bought the ticket for the title fights from February 8th to 19th, 2023 directly. Justus Strelow and Johannes Kühn have already met half of the internal target.

"We're really pleased with how broadly represented our team was in the various competitions in the top places," said Bitterling. Especially the two second places with the relays caused happiness. Relay races for men and women are also scheduled for the weekend in Austria, and there are also sprint and pursuit races on the World Cup routes from 2017 in Pillerseetal to Sunday. Voigt from Thuringia wants to continue working on her shooting. "It worked quite well on the cross-country ski run in the competitions in Kontiolahti, so now it's time to focus again on the shooting range and shooting speed," said the 25-year-old, who won the Olympics with the relay in February. won bronze in Beijing.