A biathlon festival with a small drop of bitterness: in the end, the Swiss athletes were just short of the medal they had been longing for
Image: Keystone
Shaking too much: Lena Häcki-Gross overdid it on the cross-country ski run on Sunday and fell far behind in the second half of the mass start race
Image: Keystone
Best Swiss athlete on the final day: Aita Gasparin waves to the crowd in eleventh place
Image: Keystone
Tired legs, but extremely satisfied overall: Niklas Hartweg
Image: Keystone
Draws an overall positive balance: Swiss head coach Sandra Flunger
Image: Keystone
A biathlon festival with a small drop of bitterness: in the end, the Swiss athletes were just short of the medal they had been longing for
Image: Keystone
Shaking too much: Lena Häcki-Gross overdid it on the cross-country ski run on Sunday and fell far behind in the second half of the mass start race
Image: Keystone
Best Swiss athlete on the final day: Aita Gasparin waves to the crowd in eleventh place
Image: Keystone
Tired legs, but extremely satisfied overall: Niklas Hartweg
Image: Keystone
Draws an overall positive balance: Swiss head coach Sandra Flunger
Image: Keystone
The Swiss biathletes come away empty-handed at their home World Championships. The two mass start races at the end continue the narrative of the last two weeks. Good attempts, but the crowning glory is missing.
23.02.2025, 18:50
23.02.2025, 19:20
SDA
Lena Häcki-Gross, who kicked off the World Championships in Lenzerheide with her 4th (sprint) and 5th (pursuit) places and raised hopes, was also on course for a medal in the mass start of the top 30 until halfway through the race. But she overreached herself and penalized herself with a standing shooting to forget.
The result was a solid 11th place for the women (Aita Gasparin) and 17th place for the men (Niklas Hartweg). The first title competitions in Switzerland were a complete success in organizational terms, but in sporting terms the results were somewhat mixed. The form build-up was right, but nervousness too often played tricks on the Swiss in front of the thousands of spectators, especially in the shooting range. With six top 7 places, including three times in the top five in individual competitions, there was also a lack of the competitive luck that would have been necessary for the first Swiss World Championship medal.
Good, but with a drop of bitterness
"Before the World Championships, we would probably have been happy with these results," says head coach Sandra Flunger, drawing a generally positive balance. "Of course with the downer that it didn't work out with the medal. For that, we would have had to rely on the favorites making major mistakes. However, they did not do this favor. Only four nations shared the twelve world championship titles, eight won at least one medal. The only real surprises were the young American Campbell Wright with two silver medals - and a fine 4th place at the end in the mass start - and the Czech mixed relay team, which also finished second.
France won the duel against Norway thanks to the outstanding women with six titles to four (13 against 9 medals), even if the Scandinavians made up ground on the last day with a triple triumph. Record World Champion Johannes Thingnes Bö won another bronze in his last World Championship race behind his compatriots Endre Strömsheim and Sturla Laegreid, the 43rd World Championship medal in his magnificent career. Sweden's Elvira Öberg won the last gold in the women's event.
At the end of their tether
The Swiss lacked the strength for a final exploit at the end in almost ten degrees and heavy snow. Fortunately, three men and two women qualified for the top 30, but none of them finished in the top ten. Aita Gasparin missed out on a better result in the first prone shooting, but then remained flawless and was accordingly satisfied. "I was last, so to speak, which is always the moment when you can either throw everything away or start catching up," explained the 31-year-old from Engadin.
Things went in the opposite direction for Häcki-Gross. She still felt like she was drunk, she said after the race with a touch of gallows humor. "I overdid it on the third lap. I had to run with the leading group, and on this third lap it set me up a bit," said the Obwalden native. "Then everything started to shake and I no longer had a chance."
Hartweg also complained of tired legs. "It's tough, but I can't blame myself." Ultimately, however, he was "extremely satisfied", because in the summer he didn't even know if he would be here after his shoulder operation. In the end, not all the pieces of the puzzle fitted together for a medal.
Nevertheless, Sandra Flunger emphasizes the positives in the form of a great atmosphere: "We hope that it has also conveyed to the TV viewers at home how cool this sport is." That was also one of the aims of this first home World Championships.
