The long wait will soon be over: the new biathlon season starts on November 25th in Östersund. A new era then begins for the German women’s team. After all, Denise Herrmann-Wick, the most successful athlete of recent years, is no longer part of the team. Head coach Kristian Mehringer sees the collective as having a duty.
“It will of course be, I won’t say more difficult, but maybe a little different than in other years,” said Mehringer at “Eurosport” about the time after Herrmann-Wick’s career ended. The 34-year-old retired from biathlon after last winter.
“I think that we have a broader leadership,” said the women’s head coach with a view to the DSV selection. It is “very beneficial that we don’t just have one leader and the others follow behind.”
This means that responsibility should be shared across several shoulders in the German biathlon team. “Vanessa Voigt, who has shown in the last two years that she is top 15 in the overall World Cup, Sophia Schneider or Hanna Kebinger, who are already seeded, can definitely run at the front,” Mehringer listed. With Franziska Preuß, Selina Grotian, Anna Weidel and Janina Hettich, “a lot is always possible,” said the biathlon coach.
Biathlon: Podium places for the DSV team?
Just because Herrmann-Wick is no longer part of the German team, Mehringer doesn’t automatically want to bake small rolls.
“We hope that we can attack towards the podium with one or two athletes and then start the season well,” said the trainer, looking ahead: “If there is a certain level of security, which we also saw last season, that’s a lot possible. I hope for a calm and good start, that we perform very well and cause surprises.”