Biathlon: Two German World Cup winners to miss season opener

Germany will be without World Cup winners Johannes Kühn and Roman Rees for the opening round of the 2025/26 Biathlon World Cup in Östersund. The German Ski Association (DSV) announced that internal selection races held over the weekend in Idre Fjäll (Sweden) determined the men’s roster.

• Selected for Östersund: Justus Strelow and Philipp Nawrath (pre-selected), plus Lucas Fratzscher, Simon Kaiser, Philipp Horn, and Danilo Riethmüller.

• Key trial results: Lucas Fratzscher won one of the two sprints against international opposition and finished 19th in the other; Simon Kaiser took third and fifth. Both were deemed winners of the internal selection. Philipp Horn (2nd and 20th) and Danilo Riethmüller (two 6th places) were named by coaches’ decision.

• Not selected: Johannes Kühn and Roman Rees. Kühn placed 25th in Saturday’s sprint and 3rd on Sunday but was still left out. Rees finished 16th on Saturday and 25th on Sunday. Kühn, 33, owns one individual World Cup win (December 2021) and was part of Germany’s relay bronze at the 2025 World Championships in Lenzerheide. Rees, 32, has three World Cup podiums and briefly wore the yellow bib as overall leader after a World Cup win in 2023.

Women’s nomination pending: The final women’s selection will be decided next weekend in Ruhpolding, where three remaining World Cup spots are up for grabs. Already pre-qualified are overall World Cup winner Franziska Preuß, Vanessa Voigt, Selina Grotian, and Julia Tannheimer. Returnee Janina Hettich-Walz, back after maternity leave, boosted her case by placing second in the Idre Fjäll sprint behind Elvira Öberg and ahead of Hanna Öberg.

The Östersund World Cup marks the start of the 2025/26 season, with the campaign running through to the finale in Oslo.