“I’m afraid the appeal will be lost a bit”

Lukas Hofer has experienced a season with ups and downs. Now the Pusterer wants to attack again – with two “new” shoulders and a slightly different training path. Italy's best biathlete talks to us about his commitment to the Swedish national team, painkillers during the season and why he has mixed feelings about the IBU rule changes.

Lukas Hofer, you had to undergo surgery for the second time in just a few weeks. What happened?

“I have had problems with my left shoulder since October last year. Turns out it's osteoarthritis. So I had to take painkillers throughout the winter and my performance was never at 100 percent. When the season ended, I had an operation in Zurich on March 29th. A basic cleaning of the joint was carried out, so to speak. Even back then, Doctor Philipp Moroder (he comes from St. Lorenzen, editor's note) told me that the right shoulder was also affected by osteoarthritis. But because I didn’t have any pain yet, we decided not to have an operation.”

Now the second intervention followed.

"Exactly. I've been training in Sweden for the past two weeks and I felt the problem slowly creeping in. That’s why I immediately made an appointment in Zurich and had the operation last Friday.”

Lukas Hofer (left) after the operation with shoulder specialist Philipp Moroder. © Social Media

Osteoarthritis – that sounds tough. Will you be able to do biathlon pain-free and fully productive again?

"I am very confident. The injury to my left shoulder that I had surgery on first has healed very well. I'm already at 90 percent. What was noticeable: In the tests I did before the second operation, the operated arm was already stronger than the non-operated arm. I will be able to start training again shortly.”

“In my opinion, such international cooperation is a model for the future.” Lukas hofer

Speaking of training: You took a new path there. In the future you will train with the Swedish national team. How did that happen?

“I have known Johannes Lukas, the head coach of Sweden, for a long time. We often joked that we could train together. There have always been conversations that have intensified this year. We both spoke to the association presidents and, after their blessing, decided that such a collaboration made sense. In my opinion, such international cooperation is a model for the future. You mix different ideas, you constantly train at a high level, there is always competition, in short: it helps everyone move forward.”

Lukas Hofer made it onto the World Cup podium once last season. © Lehtikuva / VESA MOILANEN

So have you already learned Swedish?

“I'm not fluent yet, but I'm learning hard (laughs). I've always been interested in a northern language. But joking aside: I immediately felt at home in the Swedish team. Sebastian Samuelsson, Martin Ponsiluoma & Co. are also very collegial and always conduct discussions in English.”

So will you only train with the Swedes in the future?

“No, there are also units planned with the Azzurri. But I think it's also good that the boys in the Italian team are taking more responsibility. Didier Bionaz and Tommaso Giacomel symbolize the generational change that is slowly but surely emerging. This way they grow into their new role more quickly.”

Recently the International Biathlon Federation IBU issued new rules. The most significant innovation is a revolution in the points system ( SportNews reported). What do you think of it?

“It's about time! Thanks to the new points system, the winner of a race will be rewarded significantly more than the fifth or sixth place finisher. That wasn't the case in the past. On the other hand, there will no longer be any World Cup points at World Championships in the future, and I take a critical view of that. I'm afraid that the appeal will be somewhat lost because it's 'only' about the first three places. So it could be that one or the other doesn't fight until the end. Maybe we should reconsider it, but not much will change.”

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“I’m afraid the appeal will be lost a bit”

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