Julia Tannheimer can look back on a successful start to the biathlon season. The 19-year-old achieved two exclamation points with sixth place in the sprint and fifth place in the mass start in Kontiolahti. The DSV hopeful evaluates her performance in her column for sport.de.
Breathless… you’re fast when you’re in the top ten in the World Cup; Not only because you were so fast on the trail before, but also the program “after” sometimes takes your breath away: interviews with the television companies, doping tests, press conferences and everything in fast forward. But if you go through this program, then things went really well before and fortunately that was the case for me. I was able to celebrate two top ten placements in Kontiolahti with myself and at the same time gain experience for the future.
After the start of the relay and the first start in the individual were mixed in terms of shooting performance, I received a crash course from our trainers on the subject of “breathing while shooting”. They noticed from television images that I obviously subconsciously continue to exhale when I shoot, which can sometimes have a significant impact on the shooting process. The lesson was learned quickly: after a few shooting intervals in training and conscious breathing regulation, I approached my further starts in sprints and mass starts “programmed differently”, but still highly motivated.
The knot actually burst: ten shots! Ten hits. My shooting performance gave me sixth place, which I was overjoyed about.
The starting place in the mass start was thus secured, which then turned out to be a “special kind of task”. Being on the track and at the shooting range together with the top 30 athletes in the overall World Cup is a competition at the highest level in terms of running speed and racing tactics.
The first loop to the first stop was quite challenging. The top athletes gave everything at the beginning to get themselves into good starting positions for the first showdown in the shooting. Right from the start I had the feeling that I had to act very prudently and keep an overview of everything in order to then slowly work my way forward through good shooting performances.
There was even time for some instructive observations when, for example, I was able to walk behind Elvira Öberg for a while and look at her technique up close. In pedagogy, such constellations are referred to as “natural learning places” and there were a few of them on the route this time.
My calculations – controlled running and good work at the shooting range – worked out. I improved to 5th place, giving myself my second top ten place in 48 hours. Completely satisfied and a little out of breath again, I went through the post-competition program until I returned to the quiet of my room and was then able to breathe a little deeper.
I’m taking some great successes and good experiences with me from Finland and I’m now looking forward to my days in Hochfilzen!
Kind regards
Julia Tannheimer