The German cross-country skiers win silver in the relay at the World Championships in Planica. With her success, a dry spell of twelve years ended. The DSV quartet only has to admit defeat to the defending champions from Norway.
Victoria Carl crossed the finish line with her last strength, sank into the snow - and was literally buried under her cheering teammates: With silver at the World Championships in the women's relay, the German cross-country skiers finally ended a twelve-year dry spell. "This is a very important milestone that we achieved today," said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder, touched, on ARD.
Final runner Carl, Laura Gimmler, Katharina Hennig and Pia Fink were only beaten by the defending champions from Norway after 4x5 kilometers in Planica, bronze went to Sweden. "It's hard to believe, I have to let that sink in first. If I have the medal, I really believe it," said Gimmler, who, as a starter, laid the foundation for the first German cross-country medal at a World Cup since 2011.
A German women's relay had last made it onto the World Cup podium in 2009, now it worked like it did at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing with silver. "It's the harder part to confirm such a performance. We gained self-confidence last year. We were all relatively relaxed," said Hennig.
At the finish, Germany was 20.5 seconds behind Norway's Tiril Udnes Weng, Astrid Oeyre Slind, Ingvild Flugstad Östberg and Anne Kjersti Kalvaa. Sweden followed 8.5 seconds after the DSV quartet just ahead of Finland.
With the eleventh medal in Slovenia, the DSV also broke the German World Cup record from 2017. "I'm really happy because something is growing together here," said Schlickenrieder. The medal win is "a great achievement, the expectations are increasing. You have to cope with that first."
Everything went according to plan for the DSV team right from the start on the demanding course: First runner Gimmler (Oberstdorf) handed over to Hennig after her five kilometers as part of a four-man lead group, the medal contenders from the USA were already distanced at this point.
On the second leg, Hennig (Oberwiesenthal) together with Sweden, Norway and Finland extended the lead over the rest of the field and handed over to Fink while in the lead. The Norwegian Ingvild Flugstad Östberg pulled away, but Fink (Bremelau) shook off Sweden and Finland.
Everything now depended on the final runner Carl (Zella-Mehlis). The team sprint Olympic champion was unable to move forward, but she confidently secured second place and was greeted by her cheering teammates at the finish. "It really motivated me that the others ran so well. I've gained more self-confidence over the past year," said Carl at the finish.
In Planica there are two more chances until Sunday, albeit smaller ones: On Friday, the men's relay hopes for a top result, as does Hennig on Saturday over 30 kilometers.
