e Biathlon

Linda Zingerle showed a strong performance. © Josef Plaickner

“Simply overwhelmed” – Zingerle wins European Championship bronze in Martell

The third day of competition at the Open Biathlon European Championships in Martell began on Saturday morning with the women's pursuit competition. The gold medal went to Baiba Bendika from Latvia, silver went to Anna-Karin Heijdenberg from Sweden and Linda Zingerle was delighted with the bronze medal.

The Antholz native fought her way up from eleventh to third place, although it did not look like the South Tyrolean would win a medal before the last shooting. Zingerle was in ninth place. In contrast to the competition, however, the 22-year-old kept her nerve, entered the last loop in fifth place and fought her way past Johanna Puff (Germany) and Tuuli Tomingas (Estonia).


"I'm just overwhelmed, it finally worked - in running and shooting. I'm so relieved. After the sprint on Friday, I was a little disappointed that I lost so much on the last lap despite two zeros. But I was able to give it my all today. In the last series, I just worked well again and everyone supported me. But to be honest, I wasn't expecting to make it to the podium," said Linda Zingerle, beaming at the finish.

The women's podium with (from left) Anna-Karin Heijdenberg, Baiba Bendika and Linda Zingerle. © Josef Plaickner


Zingerle's bronze is the first European Championship medal for Italy in an individual competition since Alexia Runggaldier from Val Gardena won silver in the individual competition in Ridnaun in 2018. The strong result of the "Azzurre" was rounded off by Birgit Schölzhorn from Ridnaun in eighth place, as well as Ilaria Scattolo (14th), Rebecca Passler (16th) and Beatrice Trabucchi (29th), which means that the team can definitely be counted among the medal contenders in the relay on Sunday.

Bendika wins nerve-wracking chase

The decision for victory was not for the faint-hearted! Before the last shooting, everything looked like a sure victory for Baiba Bendika from Latvia. The third-placed athlete after the sprint competition had taken the lead after the second shooting, extended it after another flawless shooting test and came to the last standing stage with a lead of over a minute. But the 33-year-old missed three targets there and the competition was open again. Bendika "saved" a lead of just over 13 seconds after three penalty laps on the last loop and won in the end with a time of 33.54,4 minutes.

"I was very controlled for three quarters of the race and I'm extremely happy with that. But when I made three mistakes in the last shooting, I was shocked. Luckily, my lead was big enough to cross the finish line first," said Baiba Bendika. Second place went to the Swede Anna-Karin Heijdenberg, who has now won a complete set of medals at the Grogg biathlon center - in three competitions, mind you. The sprint winner missed a target in every shooting and even fell back to third place after the last shooting, but was able to gain one position on the cross-country course.

Women’s Pursuit (7,5 km):

1. Baiba Bendika (LAT) 33.54,4 minutes/3 shooting errors
2. Anna-Karin Heijdenberg (SWE) +15,6/4
3. Linda Zingerle (ITA/Antholz) +19,2/2
4. Tuuli Tomingas (EST) +27,6/2
5. Sophie Chauveau (FRA) +27,8/4

Schlagwörter: Winter sports Biathlon em

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