Giacomel, Hofer, Wierer, and a rampant Lisa finish behind France in the 4×6 km after an Italian comeback in the final leg. Bronze goes to Germany.
Arms open wide, a smile that crosses the Alps, passes through her hometown of Sappada and flies over all the peaks: Lisa Vittozzi finishes the mixed relay in second place, Italy’s second “number two” in the history of the Olympic biathlon. The gold medal is still missing, but the team is in good shape, there are ten more races to go, and this start will fuel their enthusiasm. Favorite France wins in 1:04:15, Giacomel-Hofer-Wierer-Vittozzi second at 25.8 seconds, Germany third at 1:05. Norway is fourth, Sweden disappoints, but the other favorites remain ahead.
Two bronze medals in 2014 and 2018, a dramatic ninth place in Beijing, with the same team as now, except for Giacomel, making her Olympic debut in this discipline. This was the Italian team’s past in this discipline. Now Giacomel is on his first medal ever, Wierer on her fourth after three bronzes, Hofer on her third and Vittozzi on her second, all bronze. Italy had won in this discipline in the last World Cup event on January 24 in Nove Mesto. Then the order was different, with the women first and then the men.
This time, the start, the first part of the four six-kilometer legs with two shooting ranges, was made by Giacomel, who had stated that he did not like the first start. But he immediately took the lead. Italy remained in the top four, then sprinted ahead and finished second.
Giacomel is immediately in front, with zero errors at the first shooting range, but two errors in the second shooting session; he has to use two reloads, then recovers on the ski, passing third behind Norway and France at the changeover with Lukas Hofer at 6″2. The Italian, who grew up here, at his fifth Olympics, never misses in prone shooting, and restarts third, overtaken by Germany but ahead of France. The trio heads together to their second shooting range, where Hofer occupies the second shooting position as per his ranking. However, two errors cause him to lose time, while Germany makes no mistakes and sets off first with Nawrath. Hofer is 19.4 seconds behind the leader but still in a virtual podium position.
Women—Dorotha Wierer starts the second half of the race in fourth place (21.5 seconds behind Norway), but close behind France’s Jeanmonnot, the World Cup leader. The Italians are still in contention for a medal. Wierer struggles to keep up with the Frenchwoman but makes up ground at the prone shooting range, shooting clean. Doro comes out second, 4″ behind Germany, which is still 100% accurate at all the shooting ranges. The leading quartet regrouped on the second lap, before the standing shooting, where France took the lead thanks to Jeanmonnot’s breakaway. There is no wind. Wierer is second, misses a target, and drops to fourth but is close to the German. The French breakaway sends Simon off at the last change with an 18.4-second lead over Norway, while Lisa Vittozzi starts fourth, 19.2 seconds behind, practically neck and neck with Norway and Germany. The Sappada native does not let her opponents get away, quickly hitting all five targets and coming back up to second place, with France far ahead but still with a medal in the Azzurri’s grasp. Lisa doesn’t miss any of her last shots either. In the final lap, she is second and pulls away from Germany and Norway, who have to do a penalty lap. The Italian silver medal is secure, and Lisa crosses the finish line embraced by all her teammates.
