ZDF documentary about the former biathlete
Dahlmeier’s ex-boyfriend died in the mountains
December 17, 2024 – 8:12 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Laura Dahlmeier was extremely successful as a biathlete. After her career ended, she dedicated herself to the next sport – this one has a high risk. A ZDF documentary provides insights.
Laura Dahlmeier has achieved everything as a biathlete. She is a two-time Olympic champion (sprint and pursuit in Pyeongchang 2018) and has also been world champion seven times. After retiring from her career in 2019, she dedicated herself to new challenges and found her love for mountaineering. She has been a state-certified mountain and ski guide since last year. ZDF has now published a documentary about the 31-year-old’s passion. This is entitled: “Laura Dahlmeier and the rush of heights – her life after her biathlon career”.
Dahlmeier was accompanied in the mountains for the documentary. In addition to herself, her companions also have their say. Among other things, her mother Susi Dahlmeier, who explains: “Laura has always known what she likes and what she doesn’t like. And when she wanted something: incredibly ambitious and determined.” In the documentary, Dahlmeier herself explains why she ended her career so early and explains that she found the “biathlon circus” to be very “rigid”, but that she loves variety and has therefore taken new paths.
She feels comfortable in the mountains. But she also knows about the risk of mountaineering. This is also illustrated by a friend who appears in the documentary: Veronika Schirmer. She says as she sits in a café with the former exceptional biathlete: “It’s simply a risky sport and at some point the statistics will come into play, but I just trust her in what she’s doing. I generally trust all people in what they do Do mountain sports, but there are also many examples. Also my brother, her ex-boyfriend, who has already left us in mountain sports.”
Schirmer’s brother was Robert Grasegger. He died in an avalanche accident in the mountains of Patagonia. According to media reports, his girlfriend at the time, a 28-year-old Austrian woman, survived the accident. Schirmer said: “I’m relatively fine with it, that was on January 6th, 2022. I’m getting along with it now. But of course it’s not easy, neither for Laura nor for me.”
Dahlmeier and Schirmer meet regularly. The former biathlete says about her friend: “She studied medicine, has children at home, so they have completely different phases of life. But it’s also very important that you have a different perspective.”