The German biathlon men have a problem with young talent. DSV sports director Felix Bitterling makes no secret of this.
“If I had the answer to that, I don’t know whether I would still be at the DSV or maybe already at NASA,” replied Felix Bitterling on the sidelines of the home World Cup in Oberhof when asked about the missing talent and added: “We “We have nine very powerful men who are also in good shape and can compete in the World Cup. But there is a hole behind them.”
The sports director continued: “You can see an overarching trend that in many nations there are either strong men or strong women,” said Bitterling: “Unfortunately, we have too few of the young athletes who advance to the next series early on “Just put the pressure on the IBU Cup.”
For the German biathlon women, Julia Tannheimer (19), Selina Grotian (20) and Julia Kink (20) are shaking up the World Cup this season.
Among the men, however, you won’t find any younger ski hunters. The average age of the DSV starters in the sprint in Oberhof is 28.7 years.
At 25 years old, Danilo Riethmüller and Simon Kaiser are still part of the “young” guard.
There are high hopes especially for Riethmüller, who shone with his second place in the mass start in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand before the Christmas break. But at first it didn’t look like it.
“Hard road” for Germany’s young biathlon talent
“Danilo is developing very well. When I met him for the first time two and a half years ago, I wouldn’t have put much effort into him getting into these spheres. He wasn’t a professional back then,” Bitterling looked back. “The attitude, the discipline he showed, it wasn’t world class, it was far away.”
That’s why it’s “all the more impressive that he took this path. He’s a professional now.”
Bitterling is hoping for a similar development to that of Riethmüller in the “one or two tender little plants” that exist among the young German biathlon talent. “But it’s not an easy situation for men,” warned the sports director: “It’s still a tough road when it comes to young talent.”