A small sensation is happening in the Biathlon World Cup. The German women’s team is experiencing an unexpected renaissance. This is due to an experienced, but above all, to young athletes.
The best in the world has rarely complained like that. “It was raining like hell. And then you’re trudging through this wet mess,” complained Franziska Preuß in her not-at-all-aggressive Bavarian language.
The conditions of the first biathlon World Cup race in 2025 annoyed the 30-year-old massively. Background: A new starting order, which is intended to make the races more TV-friendly, has meant that the top athletes have started later than usual and sometimes in worse conditions since this season (you can read more about the new starting rule here).
Given the course of the season so far, Preuß has anything but reason to complain: with 599 points, despite a rather weak performance at the World Cup in Oberhof, Thuringia, she leads the overall ranking – well ahead of Lou Jeanmonnot.
The Frenchwoman is a whopping 116 points behind Preuß before the second World Cup of the year, which begins on January 15th in Ruhpolding, Bavaria (from 2:10 p.m. in the t-online live ticker). At this point in time, such a gap had not existed for a long time – and it was not just the German biathlon scene that was surprised.
The Bavarian native became an institution in the Biathlon World Cup between 1990 and 2006. With two gold, four silver and three bronze medals, she is one of the most successful German Winter Olympians. Today she lives with her family in Mora, Sweden and is an expert on Swedish radio.
The German biathlon idol Uschi Disl stated in an interview with t-online: “Franziska Preuß is better than ever before. At the moment she is in incredible shape – and the most complete athlete in the World Cup.” The two-time Olympic champion Disl has lived in Sweden for over a decade and comments on the races for the local radio.
In recent years, athletes from Scandinavia, France and Italy have mostly dominated the events in the World Cup for ski hunters. But that has changed this season: With Vanessa Voigt in tenth place, the only 20-year-old Selina Grotian in eighth place and Preuß in first place, three athletes from the German Ski Association (DSV) are in the top 10 of the overall World Cup rankings .
Preuß has been on the podium in six individual races so far, something even the boldest optimists would not have expected. “She runs very well, even if she doesn’t deliver best times on the assembly line – but she doesn’t need it because she has extremely good shooting percentages and is very stable. Basically, Franziska almost always hits,” analyzes the two-time Olympic champion Disl.
Such an explosion in performance was not necessarily foreseeable before the season. Health problems continue to plague the talented Preuß, which is why she had to end the 2023/24 season early. For years, the Bavarian’s unstable immune system prevented her from reaching her full potential.
“Franziska Preuß was actually always good, but she constantly had health problems and was often sick,” explains World Cup expert Disl. Last year, Preuß had surgery on his sinuses and since then his health has been more stable than ever.
“It’s just like that in high-performance sports: If you’re in top shape, you can maintain your performance. And you can now see that with Franziska,” explains ex-athlete Disl and adds: “So her successes aren’t surprising to me.”
Things are completely different for the younger German athletes. Selina Grotian and 19-year-old Julia Tannheimer in particular have made an unexpected leap in performance this season. While Tannheimer finished in the top 10 three times in the individual disciplines, Grotian even achieved her first World Cup victory before Christmas. And that at just 20 years old.
The public quickly made comparisons with Laura Dahlmeier, who resigned in 2018. However, the former top athlete Disl resolutely opposes this: “It’s difficult to talk about whether she will be the new Laura Dahlmeier or not,” says Disl.