Lisa Vittozzi returns to success after nearly two years
Perfection, there are no other possible words. Lisa Vittozzi is perfect and relentless in the pursuit that closes the stage in Hochfilzen (Austria) and turns 14th place in the sprint into an extraordinary success that brings her back to the top step of the podium twenty-one months after her triumph in Canmore that had effectively certified her World Cup 2023/24 success. The Sappada native put in an exemplary performance on every front, unleashing four anthology-like ranges in terms of precision, speed, and effectiveness that enabled her to complete the comeback and emerge ahead of everyone from the last shooting session. The final lap is a steady progression, preventing Anna Magnusson (0-0-1-0) from coming back: Vittozzi triumphs in 28’31″5 complete with a bow at the finish line, the Swede is second at 11″4 with Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide (1-1-1-) third at 39″5.
After a year’s enforced hiatus, Vittozzi returned to thunder to victory in the round of five races, reinforcing even more Italy’s excellent start to the biathlon season. “I had a perfect race,” were Lisa Vittozzi’s first words, “A performance that means a lot after a really tough last year. I worked a lot, hard, knowing that one day everything would pay off. Today was my day, the last lap was special. It is a dream come true for me to be able to return to the top step of the podium. I am enjoying every day of this new season and having fun-I was sure these results would come.” Instead, two mistakes in the middle of the race made Dorothea Wierer (0-1-1-0) lose contact with the best, but she still found a good ninth place at 54″9.
Strong performance then for Rebecca Passler who with a single error in the opening (1-0-0-0) puts in a twenty-five position progress for 27th place overall at 2’02 while Samuela Comola (0-0-0-2) closes the points zone in 40th place. Magnusson retains the overall lead with 314 points ahead of Kirkeeide (260) and Jeanmonnot (241, seventh today), Wierer overtakes Minkinnen and is fifth (225) while Vittozzi climbs the rankings and is seventh with 204 points. Norway wins in the men’s relay in Hochfilzen, which lived neck-and-neck with France for half. Then Fillon Maillet’s collapse opened the door for the Scandinavians who were no match for them. The final time was 1h11’54″8, with only 3 reloads, France was second at 43″1 with 8 reloads, while third was Sweden, which climbed gradually, at 1’05″7 with 9 reloads used. Italy finishes sixth, after having a chance to fight for the podium. The final, with 1 penalty and 8 reloads, is 2’57″4 behind the leaders.
Elia Zeni uses two reloads and relieves Lukas Hofer in ninth position 39 seconds behind Norway leading the group. With a clean first polygon, the South Tyrolean put Italy back in third place 33 seconds behind France and 30 behind Norway. And Hofer ends his split with a double zero, with Italy leading the group 55 seconds behind Jacquelin and 50 seconds behind Botn. The change is for Didier Bionaz at 1’08”.
On the first pitch Bionaz uses a reload, but remains glued to the positions that count for the podium.
With Norway stretching and France losing ground but remaining second, the U.S., Germany and Italy emerge for a place in the top three. Then Bionaz makes four errors on the last target of the standing shot and is forced to turn. Italy exits in ninth place at 2’48″9 from Norway and changes to eighth. Tommaso Giacomel starts towards an impossible recovery. The Trentine uses two reloads in the second shooting session, but shoots his way to a sixth place finish.
