Tommaso Giacomel's cry of liberation: "I am so happy"

Tommaso Giacomel has long been one of the most influential faces in the world of biathlon. But he has never left a finish stadium with such a broad grin on his face as he did this afternoon at the World Championships in Lenzerheide. He has freed himself of a great burden.

19. February 2025

From:
Alexander Foppa

Tommaso Giacomel is someone who, even after good races, carries out detailed performance analyses with a frown and a thoughtful look. He is a meticulous, even dogged worker. Not so on this afternoon in Lenzerheide – the place where he first World Championship medal in an individual race. He had tears of joy in his eyes, he cheered and beamed.

At the age of 24, Giacomel has already won four medals at world championships, but so far only in mixed and single mixed relays. Now he finally has his very own medal hanging around his neck. On Wednesday he won silver behind Eric Perrot.

"The relief is huge" Tommaso Giacomel

Giacomel has not only broken his personal medal ban, but also that of his entire team. Italy had been waiting for a top-3 finish at this World Championships. "The relief is huge. I have shown good races here, but have missed a medal so far," said Giacomel in SportNews-Interview.

On Thursday in duo with Wierer

Giacomel comes from the village of Imer, which has a population of 1.000, in the Primiero Valley in Trentino. He was born in Sterzing and was educated at the sports high school in Mals. In the finest South Tyrolean dialect, he says: "Now I'm standing here with silver, I'm really happy."

Listen to the full interview with Tommaso Giacomel here:

One moment please - the video is loading

We asked Giacomel whether this was the crowning achievement of his career so far. He replied with a wink: "That would be a gold medal." He already has a theoretical chance of winning on Thursday (16.05:XNUMX p.m.), when he competes in the single mixed relay with Dorothea Wierer. The Niederrasnerin, who had recently been injured, announced her World Cup comeback on Wednesday.

Hofer is bitterly disappointed

This afternoon, the World Championships in Lenzerheide once again showed mercilessly how close joy and sorrow can be. While Giacomel walked from microphone to microphone in the finish area to describe his feelings of happiness, Lukas Hofer had long since left the arena with his head bowed.

"I don't know what happened" Lukas hofer

The last individual appearance at this World Cup went completely wrong for the experienced Montaler. In the second and third shooting he accumulated a whopping seven penalty minutes. "I simply can't say anything about that. I don't know what happened," explained a contrite Hofer in the SportNews-Interview. With regard to the relay race on Saturday, he said: "Now I have to analyse it with the coaches, then we will see what is still possible at this World Cup."

The rest of the World Cup program:

Thursday
16.05 p.m.: Single mixed relay

Saturday
12.05:XNUMX pm: Women's relay
15.05:XNUMX pm: Men's relay

Sunday
13.45:XNUMX p.m.: Women's mass start
16.05:XNUMX: Men's mass start