Decision shortly before the Olympics
World champion Preuß ends her career after the season
Updated on January 30, 2026Reading time: 2 minutes
A big bang a few days before the Winter Olympics: biathlon world champion Franziska Preuß is ending her career after the current season.
Biathlete Franziska Preuß has announced the end of her successful career. “After this season it’s definitely over,” said Germany’s athlete of the year in a virtual media round on Friday. The overall World Cup winner left it open whether she would stop immediately after the Olympic Games in Antholz or whether she would take part in the last World Cup trimester. Things have developed in the last few weeks so that she is “fine” with the decision.
In the previous season, Preuß, who had repeatedly been set back by health problems in the past, fulfilled several dreams by winning the big crystal ball and World Championship gold in the pursuit. So far she has only one bronze medal in the relay at the Winter Games, but here too she is now aiming for precious metal in an individual race. But the winter hasn’t gone according to plan so far, and she only reached the podium once before the season’s highlight.
“This calmness is not quite there as I would like it to be,” explained Preuß: “There are several reasons for that. The summer wasn’t quite as smooth. First the shoulder problems, then the hand operation. That drains your energy bit by bit.” And further: “I was always able to pull myself together and was motivated. Before the season I was also relaxed, then the infection happened again in December, where you are set back. Since then, I have no longer found it so easy to get into this flow.”
It’s “definitely not the easiest phase at the moment,” said the Bavarian: “But I’m not giving up. You have to get through it.” Already after the Olympic dress rehearsal in Nove Mesto, Preuß had made people sit up and take notice. “Maybe these were my last World Cup races,” she told the Sportschau.
The Olympic competitions in Italy begin on February 8th with the mixed relay. The final race is the women’s mass start on February 21st. After that, the World Cups in Kontiolahti, Otepää and Oslo are on the season schedule.
