Austria's best biathlete has had enough: "Thanks to Antholz, I'm leaving as a winner"

Dominik Landertinger is the most successful ÖSV biathlete with nine medals at major events, including World Cup gold in the mass start in 2009. Now it's over for him. "I'm grateful that I was able to achieve all of this," said the father of the family, who left at the peak thanks to the World Cup bronze in Antholz.

Dominik Landertinger is by far the most successful ÖSV biathlete. © AFP / MARCO BERTORELLO

Last December had Landertinger wants to turn his back on top-class sport given his poor form – “I thought nothing would work anymore” – but at the World Championships in South Tyrol on February 19th he won his fifth individual medal at the World Championships or Olympic Games in the 20 km individual event.

Then the thought of ending my career came to mind. “It was always my great wish to end my career well. Thanks to the medal in Antholz, I have the feeling of leaving the pitch as a winner,” explained the army athlete who grew up in Hochfilzen and now lives in Fieberbrunn. “As a young athlete, I hit my head against the wall” He had succeeded both as a young daredevil and as an experienced player. “I trained like an 14-year-old when I was 18 and like a 18-year-old when I was 22, which is why I became world champion when I was 20,” Landertinger said APA . “As a younger athlete, I hit my head against the wall and didn’t pay attention to my body.” But he learned from a dry spell and overtraining twice. “In recent years I have become more patient and experienced and have managed the balancing act between stress and recovery.” The reward was, among other things, Olympic bronze in the 20 km individual competition in Pyeongchang 2018, just six months after a disc operation. Only the very best were better than “Landi” Over the course of his career, the Hochfilzener has had the greatest of his craft as opponents. In South Korea he was on the podium with the Norwegian winner Johannes Thingnes Bö, this year Antholz with the seven-time overall World Cup winner Fourcade and in 2014 after the Olympic sprint in Sochi with the legendary Norwegian Ole Einar Björndalen.

The winner of two World Cup races admitted that 22 years of top-class sport had taken their toll. The end of his career is therefore a logical consequence. “They were wonderful moments, every medal has its own story. “I don’t want to miss the friendships and the good times with coaches and teammates,” said the father of a one-year-old son. Now he is looking forward to more time with his family. “I am grateful for my successes and not greedy to achieve more.”

Now the trained biathlon trainer wants to use the time for further training after his commitment to the armed forces and then work in health management for companies as well as in the recreational sports and fitness sector.

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Austria's best biathlete has had enough: "Thanks to Antholz, I'm leaving as a winner"

A few weeks after France's superstar Martin Fourcade, a former world champion from North Tyrol also announced the end of his career on Sunday. At 32, like Fourcade, he was still in his prime for competition.

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