After Friday’s training, it was decided which of the five representatives will remain out of the game for this discipline. For women it is Eliška Václavíková and for men her namesake Adam Václavík. “When nominating both categories, the consistency and confidence of the candidates’ shooting was decisive, we don’t want to risk a penalty round unnecessarily,” explains sports director of the association Ondřej Rybář.
The men’s 4×7.5 km relay should start already at 11:45 a.m., where the Czech Republic will go with number 8 in the composition of Krčmář, Mikyska, Štvrtecký, Mareček. From 3:00 p.m., the women’s 4×6 km relay is on the program and the Czech Republic will present itself with number 7, consisting of Voborníková, Vinklárková, Davidová, Charvátová.
But the program is threatened by the weather forecast, which predicts extremely strong gusts of up to 85 km/h. The International Biathlon Union (IBU) and the organizing committee have therefore announced that they will decide early on Saturday morning whether the races will take place. “The safety of all sportsmen and women and our fans is above all else, both during the arrival itself and during the races,” said the head of the organizing committee, Thomas Grellmann, in a statement.
Photo: Matthias Schrader, CTK/AP
Czech biathlon number one Markéta Davidová during the individual race at the World Championships in Oberhof.Photo: Matthew SchraderČTK/AP
Sunday’s races with a mass start for the elite thirty from the championship so far will have a significant Czech cast. Tereza Voborníková, who is one of the nine girls who complete all seven disciplines in Oberhof, also made it to the women’s competition. “I’ve already taken out the energy gels to keep up somehow. Heavy snow takes a lot of strength, the weekend will be challenging,” he explains.
Three Czech men qualified for the masák. Michal Krčmář believes that he will still find enough strength for the seventh start at this year’s WC. “Masák will hurt everyone and the one who has a strong head will succeed,” he muses. Jakub Štvrtecký will also take part in the start: “I hope it will be a reward, I don’t want to end up somewhere at the end.” The premiere in this discipline awaits Tomáš Mikyska: “The fact that I will be competing on Sunday is beyond my expectations. I take it as a great chance to fight for a good position, I just wouldn’t like to finish 30th.”
