Six biathletes and six biathletes travel to Pyeongchang for the Winter Olympics in Germany. How was the current season? Who has a chance to win medals? SPOX performs the biathlon check (ladies’ sprint on Saturday from 12.15 pm in the LIVETICKER).
Germany in biathlon. At the latest at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, the discipline became the German “Gold Bank”. The German biathletes won eleven medals at that time, five of which shone gold. It’s been a long time. From the dizzying heights of 2006’s success it was steadily downhill.
Four years after the games in Turin, Vancouver, an outstanding Magdalena Neuner finished with two gold medals. The German biathlon team experienced a debacle at the Olympic Games in Sochi without a nine ball, but remained without a gold medal. After the Biathlon Queen’s resignation in 2012, there was a big gap and the search for talent was sluggish. But it was not the end of biathlon as the number one winter sports event in Germany. Laura Dahlmeier and Simon Schempp’s successes provided a new euphoria.
The hype about Laura Dahlmeier after the World Cup in Hochfilzen was huge. At last season’s big event, she crowned herself five times world champion with ease of play. Completely deservedly she won the overall World Cup and the “Sportswoman of the Year 2017″award. Of course, the whole of Germany is expecting Olympic gold a year later. German national coach Gerald Hönig warns against overly high expectations:”It would be very presumptuous to believe that another five gold medals will be won in Pyeongchang,”he told Munich’s Merkur. Dahlmeier is struggling with some adversities in the Olympic season. Already at the beginning she was absent sick. Two infections weighed even more heavily in December, and she was no longer able to gain momentum. In Ruhpolding’s singles, she was in the worst position ever with rank 48. But in the direction of the Olympics she made a challenge:”I am fit for the climax”. She underscored this statement with a victory, a second and a fifth place in the final World Cup races before the Winter Games.
In the absence of Laura Dahlmeier, Denise Herrmann scored well at the start of the season in Östersund. She confirmed her first World Cup victory in the sprint with her triumph in the pursuit. It is no surprise that the former cross-country skiing specialist, who won a cross-country ski medal in Sochi four years ago, is quickly on the cross-country ski run. Much more amazing are their constant shooting performances. Suddenly Herrmann was running in the yellow jersey of the World Cup leaders – no one expected that. Herrmann has meanwhile lost her top level at the shooting range from the beginning of the season, but she can be trusted with everything at the Olympics.
Franziska Hildebrand actually has everything to land at the top of the biathlon. On a good day, she is one of the fastest on the cross-country ski trails and at the shooting range she can shoot outstanding odds of over 90 percent. But this season she rarely manages to bring both together. She’s the wonder bag on the German team. From gold in the singles to a ranking beyond the top 30, she has it all.
Already at the age of 20, Franziska Preuß won the small crystal ball in the mass start ranking. Disease-related failures prevented the big breakthrough. After a long period of suffering and a paranasal sinus operation, she fought her way back into the A squad this year. In Antholz, shortly before the cut-off date, Preuß created the standard for Olympia on his own initiative, an important signal for them. Reliable markswoman Preuß is a decisive athlete, especially for the women’s relay.
Vanessa Hinz is always available for a top 10 result, but everything has to fit at the shooting range. Hinz is not one of the strongest on the cross-country ski trails.
“After the World Cup in Oberhof I find my strength back – and this is important”, said Hammerschmidt after the mass start of Ruhpolding. Only Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Denise Herrmann and Laura Dahlemeier were faster than Hammerschmidt, who had to improve her shooting performance to play a role in the Olympic Games. She is the joker of the German team.
The Olympic victory is only about the German ladies. Last season the German women’s relay team won all World Cup races. This season, too, there are already three relay victories to report and yet there is still plenty of room for improvement. In spite of penalties, the German ladies are always on top.
Page 1: The Biathlon team at a glance and the women’s team in check
Page 2: The men’s team in check and the balance since 2006