Katja Haller: “My career is officially over”

Katja, how are you feeling after this decision? I am very well. The decision to end my career came from my heart and I am convinced from the bottom of my heart that I did the right thing. I just haven't been 100 percent passionate about it in the last few months and would have had to torture myself to train now, at the start of the new season. I wanted to save myself that.

When did the thoughts of resignation become concrete? After the World Cup in Ruhpolding, I started thinking about a possible end to my career because it didn't go as planned for me personally. But every athlete has such slumps in their career and after a while they go away.

In your case, the thoughts of resignation continued even while you were on vacation in Thailand... Yes, exactly. Before the vacation I told myself that I would have to make a decision when I returned. When I came back from Thailand, I still hadn't found my passion for biathlon again and on May 9th I called it a day. As of today (Wednesday, editor's note), my resignation is official, because I still have to complete some formalities at the tax guard.

Have you already thought about what comes now, after your career? I won't remain loyal to the sport of biathlon for the time being; working as a trainer is out of the question at the moment. I need distance. I am now on four months of unpaid leave and will be going abroad. As soon as I come back, I will work at the financial guard. Everything in my life has always revolved around sport. Now it’s time to find out my other interests. I will do that in the next few months.

What was the best moment in your career? That was definitely second place with the mixed relay in Pyoeng Chang, when I was nominated completely unexpectedly. Another biathlete was actually scheduled for this race. During the shooting I was the first to run into the stadium twice, which was a great feeling.

They have also competed in the Winter Olympics three times... I was overwhelmed, especially when I took part in Salt Lake City for the first time. As an athlete, you always dream of taking part in the Olympic Games. All athletes live in the same village, which is why there is a completely different, special atmosphere surrounding the games than, for example, in the World Cup.

Who has particularly impressed you in your career? When I was starting out in my career, I was always a fan of Frode Andresen from Norway. He had excellent running technique, which I really liked. He was also a very reserved guy who had contact with few biathletes and was therefore a bit strange. And at the shooting range he was unpredictable. He could score zero - but he could just as easily score a few tickets. That's what always made it so exciting when he was there. He was a real guy...

You will miss your teammates like Dorothea Wierer, Karin Oberhofer and Michela Ponza. Yes, that is certainly the saddest aspect of this whole story. The reason I'm ending my career with a tear in my eye. But I have built up great friendships with most of them and we certainly won't lose sight of each other. The day after tomorrow (Friday, editor's note) I will even go to the training camp in Antholz and pay them a visit there.

But you won't turn your back on sport completely, will you? To be honest, at the moment I'm enjoying the fact that I almost don't have to do anything (laughs). Otherwise, I really like triathlon and have already taken part in the triathlon in Kaltern twice. I think I will dedicate myself to this sport in the future.

Otherwise, you could try bowling, as this sport is very popular in your family... (laughs) That's right, my father, my mother and my sister all play in the club. As soon as I made my decision, they all said that there was still a place available in your team.

Katja, thank you very much for this interview and all the best for your future!

Katja Haller's career at a glance: Katja Haller celebrated her debut in the World Cup in the 2000/2001 season in Hochfilzen. In the Austrian biathlon mecca, the 31-year-old from Ridnaun also achieved the best placement in the World Cup: she came tenth in the individual race in the 2008/09 season. In a total of 187 appearances in the World Cup, she achieved nine top 20 placements. Katja Haller achieved her best result in the overall World Cup in the 2010/11 season when she was ranked 36th in the rankings after the last race.

Katja Haller also took part in the Winter Olympics three times in her career. The best result for the biathlete from the Finanzwache sports group was 18th place in the individual race in Vancouver. The woman from Ridnaun also took part in eight world championships. At the 2007 home World Championships in Antholz, Haller finished 12th, the best result of her career. Last year in Khanty Mansiysk, she missed out on the bronze medal in the relay title fights and came fourth.

After a mixed 2011/12 season, in which she was also plagued by health problems, Katja Haller officially announced her retirement from active sport on May 23rd.

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Katja Haller: “My career is officially over”

The news of Katja Haller's resignation hit as if out of the blue on Wednesday afternoon. SportNews immediately spoke to the likeable woman from Ridnaun, who was part of the national biathlon team for more than a decade. An interview.

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