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Niklas Hartweg got down to business after the mass start race, with which he finished 22nd at the end of the Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto. In a TV interview with SRF, he spoke about a World Cup “that it is best to forget immediately”. And a week and a half in which – with a few exceptions – everything that could go wrong went wrong. The man from Schwyz said: “Luckily that happened this year and not at the home World Cup or at the Olympic Games.” He was also aware that the overall performance of the Swiss exponents was not exactly the best advertisement for the February 2025 competitions in Lenzerheide.
The Swiss ski team only offered a few bright spots in the Czech Republic, such as fourth place in the mixed relay at the start, a respectable eleventh place for Hartweg in the individual and the conciliatory conclusion with Sebastian Stalder’s seventh place in the mass start .
Moreover, from the Swiss perspective, the World Cup turned into a fiasco, which unfortunately started before the athletes even hit the trails. The service people searched in vain for a wax mixture that would give the Swiss fast skis in the warm temperatures and in the wet, dirty snow of Nove Mesto. With the exception of the mass start, the Swiss lagged behind the competition for days, which noticeably increased the frustration in the team. Other countries, such as Germany, were also struggling, while the dominant and better equipped French and Norwegians apparently had a panacea.
Would a uniform wax help?
Switzerland has lost the major materials battle that resulted from the fluorine ban. “The failure of the service team to find a solution is extremely bitter for everyone. “Especially because the waxers have done a very good job so far this season – and also worked long hours at the World Cup and really tried everything,” SRF expert Matthias Simmen told Blick. At the same time, the 52-year-old raises the question of whether the aforementioned material struggle, which “sometimes leads to the absurd”, should not be circumvented by the International Biathlon Union (IBU) making a uniform wax available.
So was everything in Nove Mesto just due to the bad material? “No, that would be too short-sighted,” says Simmen. “And yet, ultimately, many issues converge on this issue.” What he means: Insufficient material can lead to a rat’s tail, a real negative spiral. “The Swiss have shown their limits at this World Cup. If it happens race after race and you invest so much in the cross-country ski trail and are still literally left behind by the competition, then it is difficult to process,” analyzes the ex-biathlete. Stalder’s example shows how difficult that is: in the middle of the World Cup, he even thought out loud about canceling the World Cup because he felt so tired.
“Don’t start with the blame”
The Swiss ski team was shown how much negative things can accumulate at a World Cup. Bad results, a fall at the stupidest moment, like what happened to team leader Lena Häcki-Gross, or a material flop. Simmen says: “What is needed now is good, open communication. It is important not to start with guilt. It should be possible to tackle such a major event in a culture of mistakes – with everyone on board.”
Ultimately, the athletes also have to question themselves, says Simmen: “You grow along with the tasks. This will be a challenge for the future. Ultimately, it is also about being successful in difficult circumstances.”
At the same time, Simmen warns not to look at the rest of the season or the home World Cup. He thinks back to the top results of the quartet Hartweg, Stalder, Häcki-Gross and Baserga from this and last winter. And especially Häcki-Gross’s first World Cup victory in January in Antholz.
Simmen says: “The competitions in the Czech Republic would have been an ideal opportunity to take Swiss biathlon sport to an even higher level after the recent successes, as it was the first World Cup medal in history. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if the result would soon go back to the podium. The team is young and eager to learn.”
The OK team for the World Championships in Lenzerheide GR will also take many lessons from Nove Mesto. Four different small delegations looked behind the scenes to ensure that the general terms and conditions in 2025 would at least be correct from a Swiss perspective.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
