How will the biathletes get through the energy crisis winter? Travel has already been canceled during preparation. But the athletes demand more.
No floodlight races, start later in the World Cup and short trips – that’s what German biathletes want in response to the current energy crisis. “I expect a difficult winter”, explains Johannes Kühn in the Sportschau interview. Denise Herrmann-Wick adds: “When planning the house, we see that nobody can ignore it. It’s a bad thing.” And Benedikt Doll demands in the sports show: “You have to reduce all energy waste and all energy costs. As an association, as a World Cup location, because that always costs money.”
bold: “Night race – it doesn’t have to be”
Kühn, who sits on the Athletes’ Commission of the World Federation IBU, formulates very specific ideas for a more energy-efficient winter: “Night races are such an issue, it doesn’t have to be.” In addition, the athlete spokesman advocates selecting World Cup locations based on snow reliability: “I can understand that one or the other is wondering why snow is being carted in. You can certainly discuss one or the other place as to whether it has to be.”, said the 29-year-old. The proposal of the World Cup sprint winner from Hochfilzen in December 2021: “We’d rather start a week later, somewhere where there’s guaranteed snow. Maybe there’s an opportunity to do a week longer at the end.”
Kontiolahti: five out of eight races under floodlights
So far, the suggestions made by Kühn and colleagues from the world association IBU have not really been implemented. As in previous years, the World Cup season starts at the end of November this winter and lasts until mid-March. There will also be floodlit races this winter. In the eight competitions at the start in Kontiolahti, Finland, the floodlights have to be switched on for five races.
Oberhof instead of Ramsau – Vuokatti instead of Muonio
The world association still gets praise from Hermann-Wick: “The IBU is already very economical”. And savings are already being made. “We plan our training camps in such a way that we save costs”, reports Doll. The German Ski Association has moved the autumn training from Ramsau in Austria to Oberhof. The German biathletes are now getting the finishing touches before the start of the World Cup in central Finland in Vuokatti instead of in Muonio in the north of Finland, “because it’s cheaper”as Doll says.
“There are 100,000 possibilities”
Kühn adds a general plea for saving energy: “Everyone should try to save for themselves. There are 100,000 ways to do something for the environment and the climate.” For Kühn, completely removing biathlon from the calendar is not one of them: “My opinion is: If we don’t do a biathlon, it wouldn’t have any impact. During Corona, you could even see that we were missed. It would be a shame if we were deleted.”
Kirchner: “Leave the church in the village”
An opinion that also supports national coach Mark Kirchner: “One is well advised to have the issue on the screen as an organizer and also as an association. But you also have to leave the church in the village. Overall, when you look at the global economy, you have to turn the big wheels when it comes to big things. If, under certain circumstances, you bring small industries like our sport to their knees, that would have no impact on the global climate problem.”