The Biathlon World Cup is starting: Wierer's great opportunity

It's like always: everyone has already started and put their scent marks into the wintery world. The sporty winter is getting going. Not even the first World Cup at an unusual time can prevent this. But, hand on heart, there is still one sport missing that we haven't wanted to miss for a long time: biathlon. Now the time has finally come.

The first race is finally on the program this Tuesday (November 29th). It is the men's individual race. The ladies follow a day later. It's hard to imagine a more difficult start to the season with the two long disciplines, because the first points will also be awarded in Kontiolahti. That's roughly as if the downhill skiers started in Kitzbühel and the ski jumpers started ski flying in Vikersund. Elvira Öberg – here in action in Kontiolahti – is one of the strongest biathletes in the 2022/23 World Cup circuit. © APA/afp / ANTTI AIMO-KOIVISTO

The course in Finland is one of the most difficult in the World Cup with a section that everyone refers to with due respect as “the wall”. It feels like it goes up almost vertically and does so several times during the lap. It is definitely a first tough test of a very special kind and after this showdown many people know where they stand, because of course the uncertainty about the current level of performance is palpable everywhere. This is also due to the fact that almost all teams have changed their coaching staff and no one knows exactly whether the new staff can meet the high expectations. Germany is bringing in foreign coaches The German team made the most spectacular move. The new sports director Felix Bitterling, who previously worked at the International Biathlon Union (IBU), hired Sverre Olsbu-Röieseland, the husband of last year's most successful Norwegian biathlete, Marte Olsbu-Röieseland. That's why there was no gossip in the family. On the contrary. Sverres Herzblatt said she was proud that her husband had received such a great opportunity. Of course, she added belligerently that she hoped to make his life as a coach for the competition as difficult as possible. However, that doesn't work at the start of the season because Olsbu is initially missing. She got shingles in the summer after Corona and doesn't feel fit enough to start yet.

Tirill Eckhoff, overall World Cup winner in the season before last, is also not there. She suffers from sleep disorders and cannot train properly. There is even a risk of the end of your career. And because Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold cannot take part after an intense cold that she caught in the training camp in Oberhof, the South Tyrolean coach of the Norwegians, Patrick Oberegger, has to develop his skills as a defect manager right at the start of the season. After the resignation of long-time Italian coach Andreas Zingerle, he of course also had an offer from home, which he turned down because the chemistry between him and the best Italian biathlete, Dorothea Wierer, who is used to success, is not ideal. Alexander Inderst is back in the Biathlon World Cup.

Alexander Inderst, Karin Oberhofer's husband, is now the responsible coach. This is a huge change, especially for Wierer, as Zingerle accompanied her for almost her entire career. But she got a new shooting coach, Jonne Kähkönen, who I have known for a long time and am convinced of. The Finn is one of the best in his profession, which Wierer and her colleagues can hopefully take advantage of. For Wierer, this is the next step up to the 2026 Olympic Games. Whether she still wants to and can keep this date will also depend on this season. Since she came through the summer healthy and happy, I think she can have a strong season with intense resistance, especially from the Swedish ladies with the Öberg Sisters. And perhaps North Tyrolean Lisa-Theresa Hauser will also be able to continue her great last season. The start, of course, is not a good sign. “I've had some health problems and I don't know what level I'm at right now,” she said. Without Hofer in Kontiolahti A lot of strange things also happened with the biathlon men. The South Tyrolean Lukas Hofer was able to prepare with the Swedish superstar Sebastian Samuelsson. For Kontiolahti, tendonitis in his left leg is now slowing him down. Among the German biathletes, only Benedikt Doll remained of the golden generation after Erik Lesser's retirement. The Black Forest native became a father in the fall and still has a certain responsibility for the entire team as a leader. Reinforcements came from Slovenia. Uros Velepec, known for his strong athletic training, will give Doll and his colleagues a leg up. This is a turning point for Germany's biathletes, as foreign talent has been hired for the first time for both women and men. Meanwhile, German legend Ricco Gross moved as coach from Austria to Slovenia and Remo Krug left DSV for Switzerland. Björndalen protégé Erik Bartlett Kulstad (previously China) has landed in Finland. At least there is also consistency. Armin Auchenthaler from Antholz stayed with the USA team and is now the responsible coach for the entire World Cup team.

These are all basically typical reactions after the Olympic Games and before a new Olympics. The fact that the so-called deleted results have now been deleted caused a lot of incomprehension among almost everyone involved. There is also a new points table. In the end, of course, tempers will calm down again, especially since everyone will certainly have to regain their strength after tackling the “wall” in Kontiolahti.

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The Biathlon World Cup is starting: Wierer's great opportunity

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