World champion with brains: A woman from Puster is causing a stir

The fact that Target Sprint is a brand new sport becomes clear when you look at the Wikipedia entry. In just ten lines it is roughly summarized how things work in this discipline. Therefore, it is better to obtain first-hand information. For example with Claudia Lercher, who was crowned world champion in mid-October. “This young sport combines middle-distance running with air rifle shooting. The athletes complete 400 meters three times, with two shots in between,” says the 24-year-old.

So biathlon, only in summer? “The similarities are there, yes,” agrees Lercher. “However, the shooting targets here are only ten meters away, but are also a lot smaller. You only shoot while standing and you have to hit five targets in each of the two units. You have ten reloaders per shooting session, only after that do you get a penalty. And there are only two types of races in the Target Sprint: the individual and the single mixed relay.” When talking to the Puster native, it quickly becomes clear how passionate she is about her sport. “Combining fast running and calm shooting is a great challenge. You have to dose it well.”

Claudia Lercher (right) in action at the shooting range.

Challenge is the right word. Claudia Lercher has always liked challenges like this. Before she promoted her career at Target Sprint a little over a year ago, the Puster native was a handball player at ASV Hochpustertal for years. When this team was dissolved, she played a few seasons with the ASV Niederdorf women's soccer team, where as a “girl for everything” she held almost every position at some point.

Best high school graduate in South Tyrol However, with her drive, Lercher also left her mark outside of the sporting field. In 2016, the then 18-year-old was named the best high school graduate in South Tyrol. As a reward, she and 24 other top graduates in Italy were welcomed by President Sergio Mattarella at the Roman Quirinal Palace and awarded a certificate. “Of course that makes you proud,” reports Lercher, who also says: “I’m interested in practically everything. I particularly like biology, chemistry and especially sports.”

The young woman from Prague is therefore endowed with a good dose of ambition. “When I start something, I want to make it as good as possible,” says Lercher. In the Target Sprint she impressively proves that these are not just empty words. Actually, she only got into this sport by chance. “Last year I did an internship and a work colleague invited me to a trial training session. I really enjoyed it straight away.”

Success after success From then on, Lercher trained with the Pichl Gsies sports shooters, three times a week at the shooting range and three times a week with other training such as forest runs. It was clear from her first races that the Braies woman has talent. This year she won her first victory at the World Cup in Lucerne, is now part of the national team, and was crowned Italian champion before the big coronation with the world championship title in Cairo in mid-October. “I hope this sport comes to the Olympics.” Claudia Lercher What does Lercher, who only completed her master's degree at the University of Bolzano a few weeks ago and now works at Mila as an assistant to the production manager, want for the future? “Target Sprint has only been around since 2014. I hope that this sport will become more popular and will be included in the Olympics at some point. It doesn't take much for a competition like this, as it usually takes place in an athletics stadium. And the races are always exciting. It won’t work out for Paris 2024, but after that – who knows?”

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World champion with brains: A woman from Puster is causing a stir

Whether in the Alpine ski circuit, in the biathlon scene or, more recently, in karate: South Tyrol is rich in world champions. Now a young woman from Prague has joined this elite circle and is causing a sensation in a completely new sport. But not just there.

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