14/1/2018 - GOLD, SILVER AND MANY GOOD PLACEMENTS: ITALY TAKES THE SPOTLIGHT IN RUHPOLDING

14Jan18

The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games is inching closer and closer, and the fifth seasonal appointment with the IBU World Cup Biathlon just went in the books as one of the brightest pages of the Italian biathlon NT.

In Ruhpolding (GER), the Italian biathlon national team finally claimed their first Gold medal of the season, with more positive signals coming in many other events, and sealing the competition with a Silver medal signed by the women’s relay.

It was Dorothea Wierer who made the Italian national anthem play in Germany, as she ruled the Individual race with four perfect rounds at the shooting range, preceding Kaisa Makarainen of Finland and Rosanna Crawford of Canada.

Forty-eight hours later, Wierer took part in the women’s relay event, competing alongside Lisa Vittozzi, Nicole Gontier and Federica Sanfilippo. After standing among the top positions for most of the race, Italy found themselves in a tight battle with Germany during the last leg, eventually surrendering to their rivals and securing the Silver medal.

Enriching the tally of the Italian NT in Ruhpolding, Lukas Hofer took 9th place in the Individual race, while the men’s team and Lisa Vittozzi both finished 7th, respectively in the 4x7,5 km relay and in the Pursuit event.

The IBU World Cup Biathlon will now move to Anterselva (ITA), where the sixth stage of the 2017/2018 season will take place from January 18th to January 21st.