Story byGermany's Franziska Preuss competes in the women's 10 km pursuit during the IBU Biathlon World Championships. Martin Schutt/dpaDPATue, December 9, 2025 at 11:40 AM UTC·1 min readWomen's defending World Cup champion Franziska Preuss is a doubt for the Hochfilzen races starting on Friday after a coronavirus infection was confirmed. Team-mate Selina Grotian is also facing a race to be fit for the Austrian event after both suffered illnesses at the season-opening meet in Sweden's Östersund last week. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"The final decision will only be made in the next day or two, as both athletes fell ill in Östersund and we cannot yet say with 100% certainty whether they will be fit to compete," sporting director Felix Bitterling said in a statement on Tuesday. News of Preuss' coronavirus infection - which she confirmed on social media - and the unpublicized illness for Grotian, which included a sore throat, will worry winter sports organizers ahead of the Olympics in Milan and Cortina in February. During the Covid-19 pandemic, winter sports events were decimated by withdrawals due to the virus before lockdowns halted seasons.