Two comebacks inspire biathlon Germany

Erik Lesser is very relaxed going into the second part of the Kontiolahti World Cup. After all, the biathlon veteran knows only too well that things can quickly turn out differently. “It will be a completely new weekend. There is momentum, that was on my side. But that doesn’t mean it will work like that again,” said the 32-year-old before the sprint race on Thursday (13.30:XNUMX p.m.). “I can no longer tolerate stress as much” Erik Lesser He is calm about the fact that after his third place in the individual at the start of the season on Saturday, his first individual podium in three years, and ninth place in the sprint, external expectations are now rising again. But also more. “For me it always stays the same, I only care about my own performance and that I got the best out of it at the end of the race. I’ll see what it’s enough to achieve at the finish line.” Lesser thought about quitting In the previous season, the former world champion struggled with back problems, which also caused his poor performances and his transfer to the second-tier IBU Cup. He now has it under control, also because his body showed him in October that “I can no longer tolerate stress.” The more intense the sessions, the more his back hurts - in October, Lesser could hardly get out of bed early on. The training plan was therefore adjusted, with intensive units in the morning and, above all, a lot of regeneration. “That’s how I’ll approach it next year,” said the German. Despite two World Cup medals, he had motivation problems in the summer and even thought about quitting at one point, like France's star Martin Fourcade. “I thought to myself, I should have just stopped. But I didn’t want to stop like that,” said Lesser. Hammerschmidt's disappointments are forgotten Maren Hammerschmidt also had doubts after two difficult years. Like Lesser, the 31-year-old returned with good performances and cracking the World Cup standard. “I can now appear a little more liberated and self-confident,” said the former relay world champion before the sprint on Thursday (16.30 p.m.). Hammerschmidt had to have surgery on her left ankle in October 2018, but she suffered the injury in February at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. Her return to the World Cup in the previous season was unsuccessful; she only took part in five races with disappointing results. “The last two years have not been an easy road,” said the committed animal rights activist. But since the team's training structure was changed and a new training concept was tried out ("The coaches showed a lot of courage"), Hammerschmidt has now moved closer to her teammates and the international elite. “It paid off,” said Hammerschmidt. She also learned a lot of positive things from working with the new shooting coach Engelbert Sklorz.

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Two comebacks inspire biathlon Germany

Erik Lesser and Maren Hammerschmidt had meanwhile completely disappeared from the biathlon area. But now, of all times, in the Corona chaos, they are reporting back.

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