Oberhof - While the field of 30 starters stayed quite close together in the first laps and the top 20 all came within q6 seconds out of the shooting range through the time measurement, it stretched itself more and more in the following rounds. The lead was first taken by the relay bronze medallist Linn Persson from Sweden, who also went as the first one on the track after the second shooting. Anais Chevalier-Bouchet from France followed her with only about two seconds and together with Lisa Theresa Hauser from Austria they formed a promising leading trio. Hanna Oeberg was still on 13th position with two penalty loops and had an about 31 seconds backlog of the golden position – seemingly defeated. But only seemingly.
Strong nerves pay off
The flawless standing shooting in the third shooting brought Oeberg back on the course for the medals. I the third and final shooting it was now about keeping the nerves. It came to an expected showdown between the French Julia Simon, Anais Chevalier-Bouchet, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold from Norway and Hanna Oeberg. The leading French did not withstand the pressure and both had to go into the penalty loop. The door for the medals was open for the two Scandinavians. Hanna Oeberg went into the final lap in first position. Julia Simon kept up close with only 4.4 seconds backlog and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold with 5.2 seconds. These three were now fighting for the medals.
The World Championships left its mark and Julia Simon's strength dwindled with every step she took. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold made up metre about metre and eventually overtook the French. At the “Henkelschleife” it showed that Simon ultimately could not follow. Also, for the leading Hanna Oeberg, gold was not safe yet since her Norwegian competitor was working herself closer. Powered by the Swedish coaches and advisors, Oeberg used all remaining power reserves and reached the finish line happily beaming as gold medal winner. “For me it is really special. I noticed, what I have been missing for nearly one and a half years and that feels really good. That way I managed to really enjoy the World Championships”, says Hanna Oeberg moved by her performance. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was very happy as well about the silver medal with only 4.8 seconds behind her. Julia Simon made third place.
Less successful was the race for the German team. The best DSV athlete was Hanna Kebinger as twelfth. Medal hope Denise Herrmann-Wick finished with five penalty loops as 24th, behind Vanessa Voigt on 23rd position (3 penalty loops). Sophia Schneider finished with five penalty loops only on place 27.
