Lisa Maria Spark is the 2023 European Biathlon Champion in singles, and she also won silver in the mixed relay with her colleague Selina Grotjan. At the end of the season, the 22-year-old can even compete in the World Cup at Holmenkollen. She was very surprised by her nomination, as she revealed in her sport.de column.
The final competitions of the IBU Cup in Canmore, Canada, were tough. Six competitions in eight days with a mix of competition formats and this in freezing cold and windy weather, which killed many a shooting bout across all nations and starters.
My declared goal was to finish in the top ten in the final ranking of the IBU Cup in order to give Germany another starting place at the World Cup finals in Oslo at the Holmenkollen.
In the first two races, a sprint and a super sprint, I was right in the middle of the wind lottery and couldn’t get past 35th and 25th place. I then got to feel that biathlon is a complex sport in which mental fitness is also an indispensable prerequisite for success. In the races with a lot of changing winds, I turned the diopter wrong when shooting and I just made too many mistakes to be able to compensate anything on the track. Disappointment spread through me and a dwindling self-confidence.
can i still shoot Am I missing my goal with a top ten finish in the IBU Total Score? A game night in the circle of the team with table football and table tennis as well as another rest day allowed these thoughts to recede. I had achieved good seasonal performances, won the European Championship title and also largely through shooting. So, everything that lay behind the plow was chopped off and a simple mantra set for the next few races: act with the wind, not against it!
This self-instruction worked wonders: in the next sprint I got away with just one missed shot, my running form was good, a 5th place. I was back on course. Format change to pursuit: 10th place. The mission was actually accomplished: ninth overall in the women’s IBU Cup and with it another starting place for the World Cup finals in Oslo!
A little later came the message from the trainers, which filled me with pride and joy. I get the starting place. I’m allowed to travel to the Holmenkollen with the World Cup team and run my first World Cup – after the European title, the highlight of the season, which I’m really looking forward to.
After the races everything happened very quickly. Exhausted from the races, the suitcases had to be packed in no time at all, bus transfer to Calgary, just reaching the plane to Frankfurt. The competition and travel stress now had me completely under control and a virus had taken its chance. The flight – an ordeal for the stomach and intestines. Rusks and camomile tea at ten thousand meters.
I am now at home in Ruhpolding, recovering, gathering strength for the last act of winter at Holmenkollen.
Best regards
Lisa Maria Spark