Biathlete Franziska Preuß finished second in the sprint at her home World Cup in Oberhof, securing her third podium finish of the season. The 29-year-old remained penalty-free on Friday and after 7.5 kilometers was only beaten by the overall World Cup leader Justine Braisaz-Bouchet from France by 4.4 seconds. 0.2 seconds behind the Bavarian came the Frenchwoman Sophie Chauveau in third place.
Braisaz-Bouchet even compensated for two penalty laps and a gap of 24.1 seconds to Preuß after the second shooting in front of 12,000 fans thanks to an outstanding best time. Chauveau also almost made up the gap of 16.4 seconds to Preuß.
This means that Preuß is still waiting for her first World Cup victory in five years, but this time she was also lucky with regard to Chauveau. This winter, she was 0.1 and 0.3 seconds short of triumph in the opening race in Östersund, finishing second in the individual and pursuit respectively.
Preuß now goes into Saturday's pursuit (14:40/ARD) with a promising starting position. This also applies to Janina Hettich-Walz and Vanessa Voigt, who are also flawless.
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