Cool at the shooting range, fast on the cross-country ski run: Biathlon star Laura Dahlmeier stormed for the first German gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
The seven-time World Champion defied the difficult conditions in the 7.5 km sprint and, at the age of 24, crowned her career, which had already been such a dream come true. When Dahlmeier arrived at the finish line, she raised her arms briefly, tapped her hand vigorously on her chest and then sank exhausted into the snow.
With ten goals at ten shots, Germany’s sportswoman of the year was the only one to keep her favourite ten shots clear, with Norwegian Marte Olsbu (1 shooting error/+24.2 seconds) and Czech Veronika Vitkova (1/+25.8) finishing second and third. Dahlmeier (Partenkirchen) thus also secured the best starting position for the pursuit over ten kilometres on Monday (19.10 hrs OZ/11.10 CET).
With Dahlmeier’s victory, the German biathletes wiped out the shame of Sochi in their first competition in South Korea. At the winter games four years ago, the athletes of the German Ski Association (DSV) had not been awarded a medal. Dahlmeier also followed in Kati Wilhelm’s footsteps with her triumph, who had secured a German Olympic gold medal in the 2002 sprint.
The other German starters also performed well in the Alpensia Biathlon Centre under the auspices of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Vanessa Hinz (Schliersee/1/+40.3) ran for a strong fifth place, while Franziska Hildebrand (Clausthal-Zellerfeld/+53.7) landed just outside the top 10 after another mistake in the standing attack. Denise Herrmann (Oberwiesenthal/2/+1,19,6 minutes) showed unusual weaknesses in the cross-country ski run and was not among the top 15.
“One will need a bit of luck”, predicted national coach Gerald Hönig in view of the difficult wind conditions shortly before the start and demanded “a consistent appearance” at the shooting range. Dahlmeier showed it. While the other favourites Anastasiya Kuzmina (Slovakia), Darja Domratschewa (Belarus) and Kaisa Mäkäräinen (Finland) shot a series of mistakes, Dahlmeier remained cool. She reacted to the changing wind, took a little more time between the shots and finally cleared everything.
Dahlmeier was also in excellent shape on the track with its short ascents. With a lot of determination she stormed up the first small ascent directly after the start – it should be symbolic for the rest of a race unforgettable for her.
On Sunday the men’s 10 km sprint is on the agenda. The focus is on the duel between two-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade (France) and the Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bö. The German starters Simon Schempp, Benedikt Doll, Erik Lesser and Arnd Peiffer are at least on bronze.