Franziska Preuß crowned herself over the overall World Cup winner and the world champion in the persecution in the past biathlon season. Instead, the German men fought against shape fluctuations. Arnd Peiffer draws a conclusion in an exclusive interview with Sport.de and looks ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The biathlon season 2024/25 produced many highlights. Franziska Preuß won the large crystal ball in a heartbeat final at the final mass start in Oslo. The 31-year-old had previously crowned the world champion in the persecution at the Biathlon World Cup in Lenzerheide.
The German men grabbed the bronze medal in the season at the season highlight in Switzerland, but otherwise presented themselves too inconsistently.
Arnd Peiffer appreciates in the second part of the exclusive interview sport.de This was achieved by Franziska Preuss. In addition, the former ski hunter evaluates the achievements of German men and assesses how the chances for the 2026 Winter Olympics stand.
Mr. Peiffer, Franziska Preuß, made many positive headlines in the past biathlon season and crowned herself as a persecution world champion and overall World Cup winner. How do you assess your services?
Arnd Peiffer: Franzi completed an insane season overall. Of course, it is also because she got through health. At the same time, however, she also showed an insane constancy. She brought top services every weekend, except maybe in Oberhof. It was extremely strong at the shooting range and showed what is possible. She came to the World Cup with high expectations and managed to get silver and gold. All the highest respect for this performance!
Photo: © Imago/Beautiful Sports/Axel Kohring
What do Prussia mean for the German biathletes?
It was of course great for the women’s team because it took a lot of pressure from the other athletes. They were able to develop in peace. Selina Grotian won her first World Cup victory and was not extremely in focus. The fact that Vanessa Voigt had to end her season prematurely was not particularly important. Overall, the women’s team gave me a lot of fun because it was always competitive.
How do you rate the appearances of the German men in the last biathlon season?
Overall, they sold under value when it comes to the individual races and World Cups. You have seen what is possible if you bring everything together: Danilo Riethmüller with his podium in Annecy. Philipp Nawrath got a podium in Kontiolahti. If you can do it well, you are also competitive. In the course of the season, however, they did not always do their performance at the shooting range. In addition, there were fluctuating services here and there.
The nice thing is, of course, that at the World Cup you managed to win the relay medal. That was balm for the soul. I still have the pictures. In addition to the two medals for Franzi Preuss, that was a real highlight because you could see how valuable the bronze medal is for her. So I don’t want to talk to the men the season completely badly. Overall, more is certainly possible.
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy can already be seen on the horizon. What is different in an Olympic season?
It is a little more excitement in the air. Olympia will always float over the coming season. In the end, the overall World Cup may not be quite as important as in other seasons. But of course you also have to prevail and manage to secure an Olympic starting place.
For men, there will also be only four starting places in every race. It is different for women, because Franzi’s World Cup title has one more starting place in the persecution. That means that five women can run in the sprint, but only four for men. In the World Cup, however, you have six starting places.
So it doesn’t help if you just think about the goal of the Olympics all the time. But you have to try to push the topic away a bit in the season preparation and work more on the individual processes.
How do the German opportunities for the 2026 winter Olympics?
I see really good opportunities for women. In the men, a significant increase in the shooting performance would have to come. If you succeed, of course we already have people who can run in at the front – with Philipp Nawrath, Philipp Horn, Johannes Kühn, Justus Strelow, who completed two great seasons at the World Cup. But there is still a step, because in the individual races the men at the World Cup in Lenzerheide had no chance of running in the front if you are honest.