Biathlete Lucie Charvátová finished eighth in the sprint of the World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, and won the best result of the Czech women in the season.
The 30-year-old native of Hradec Králové was deprived of a better position by a single shooting error during the final standing position.
Two other Czech biathletes also scored points. Tereza Voborníková, who shot flawlessly, finished nineteenth, Jessica Jislová finished two places behind her after one mistake.
Only Markéta Davidová finished outside the top forty, who was forty-sixth after two penalty rounds.
Charvátová, the sprint bronze medalist at the 2020 WC, equaled the best Czech result of the season.
Michal Krčmář also finished in eighth place in the December race with a mass start in Lenzerheide. The best women’s results so far were the ninth places of Voborník and David.
“It’s beautiful. Even on my old knees, I was still riding. I’m very happy about it,” said Charvátová, who also had the seventh running time, on Czech television.
“I had a blackout. I drove fast from the beginning, I was afraid that I burned it. I checked my pulse a little before shooting. I checked that and in the last lap I drove, I had enough strength,” she added.
Charvátová only entered the race with the number 87, but from the beginning she presented herself with a fast run. After a flawless shot lying down, she was in seventh place and before the final stand, she was sixth.
However, a mistake on the fourth target deprived her of another advance. 47.5 seconds separated Charvátová from the winning Norwegian Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold at the finish line, the Czech biathlete lost almost half a minute on the podium.
The twenty-three-year-old Voborníková also did well, shooting a flawless sprint for the second time this season. She succeeded for the first time in Lenzerheide.
“Given how I never did very well in Ruhpolding, I’m surprised by the two zeros. Today I underestimated it, I rode quite lightly. Overall, I was quite cold, slowed down and stiff,” described Voborníková.
“As I’m small, the track profile doesn’t suit me very well there. I tried as much as I could, and the two zeros helped me a lot,” she added.
Davidová already made a mistake in the first item, where she missed the last target. She wasn’t flawless even standing up, and for the third time in the sprint this season she didn’t score.
The winner Tandrevoldová beat Sweden’s Mona Brorssonová by more than eighteen seconds. Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi was third.
WC in biathlon in Ruhpolding (Germany) – sprint:
Women (7.5 km): 1. Tandrevoldová (Nor.) 19:25.4 (0), 2. Brorssonová (Sweden.) -18.2 (0), 3. Vittozziová (It.) -19.0 (0), 4. Jeanmonnotová (Fr.) -24.8 (0), 5. E. Öbergová (Swed.) -33.9 (2), 6. Hettichová-Walzová (German) -35.0 ( 0), …8. Charvátová -47,5 (1), 19. Voborníková -1:03,3 (0), 21. Jislova -1:09,4 (1), 46. Davidova (all Czech Republic) -1:55.6 (2).
Current standings of the WC (after 11 of 21 races): 1. Braisazová-Bouchetová (Fr.) 621, 2. Tandrevoldová 591, 3. E. Öbergová 518, 4. Vittozziová 516, 5. Simonová (Fr.) 469, 6. Preussová (German) 465, …20. Voborníková 164, 22. Jislova 136, 28. Davidova 117, 34. Charvátová (all Czech Republic) 94.
